Bloodlines
by Aigerim Lehane
Summary: Jade's purpose had been simple: find the family she was ripped away from a thousand years ago. Dealing with werewolves, helping witches and falling in love with Tori Gilbert most certainly hadn't been on her to-do list this century. As the things get more complicated, she has to choose between her blood ties and the thing that has become the most important to her since her rebirth.
1. The Road Ahead

_Alright, so I was watching The Vampire Diaries premiere the other night, and afterwards I browsed some Jori gifs on Tumblr, and then it hit me: holy crap, Damon so could be related to Jade, and the personalities of these two? Like one person in two different bodies. Add to the mix the fact that Victoria Justice aka Tori Vega and Nna Dobrev aka Elena Gilbert are, like, real-life doppelgangers, and viola – you have yourself a nice AU story._

_I am posting it in the Victorious archive, because the story focuses mainly on Jori, and those of you who haven't seen Vampire Diaries can simply treat new characters as OCs. _

_For those who have, a bit of information: Jade is a part of Original family._

Please review, I want to know what you guys think!

* * *

What is the exact definition of a family?

Your standard white picket fence, mother gently waking you up in the morning, father humming at breakfast with a newspaper, older brother ruffling your wild hair, younger sister snickering in her glass of orange juice.

An empty room and emptier promises of stopping it tomorrow as a man who is considered your father shoves your mother against the wall, her eyes pleading with you to run in your room, broken sobs in your chest, broken scars on her body.

Your dad getting you and your brother up for school, his eyes cold, his words biting, his heart never the same since your mom breathed her last words of love to him in an emergency room five years ago.

A kindergarten teacher asks little kids to say words associated with the word "family", and she clucks disapprovingly when she hears anything that isn't "warmth" or "love" or "kindness" , because even though she herself comes back to her empty apartment and a hating mother who doesn't return her calls, she knows that family is _supposed _to be like all these words.

And I'm supposed to be dead for over a thousand years now. But things are never the way it's supposed to be.

I've seen so much during my un-life, and never was I able to witness a family being the way it's supposed to be.

I wish I didn't remember my family, but it's not something you ever forget, especially if it's as fucked up as mine.

Because no matter how dysfunctional families can get in this century, nothing ever will be as wild as a father turning his children into monsters, stripping any innocence they had left the moment he forced a young girl's blood down their throats.

And no matter how fucked up the relationships in some families are, I seriously doubt anyone stood in the woods at midnight, watching their grand-grand-grand-grand-a-lot-of-grandson bury ten or so corpses, muttering under his breath.

"You know, if I wanted my granny watching over me, I could've just brought a family portrait to set it up on a stone or something."

Sometimes I wonder why I put up with his sarcastic ass, and then I forcefully have to remind myself that he, along with his brother, is the only family I have left.

He got up from the ground and dusted his clothes off; a look of annoyance clear in his crystal ice-blue eyes. As he looked up at me, I was taken aback for the thousandth time by how much his eyes were like mine.

Like mine and my mother's.

"Are you pulling a Stefan on me now?"

I merely smirked at his irritation. He was really a pain in the ass, but somehow nobody could help but be drawn to his self-involved complicated self. I didn't really believe that character traits could be passed on in generations, but my splitting image both in looks and personality standing before me proved me wrong.

"Those deaths _are _kind of your fault, cutie pie."  
He scowled at me, his eyebrows knitting together, further resembling me.

"Oh, with all due respect, _Grandma, _please care to elaborate on that one?" He scoffed at me.

I sighed. I may adore the kid, but sometimes the urge to rip his heart out got so strong I physically had to restraint myself.

"You had one job, you gank. Do. Not. Provoke. Anyone." With each quite word I said, I took a step closer to him. "But being the most _insufferable _asshole you are, you just had to go and start up a fight with a goddamn werewolf pack!" My voice rose slightly at the end as I neared him, my finger poking him in his hard chest.

His eyes flashed blood, veins protruding from the skin, and I struggled not to let my smile show. He was the only one I've ever met who was never afraid of anything or anyone, including one of the longest living creatures standing in front of him.

That's my boy.

"Are you seriously threatening our beloved grandmother?"

I merely raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow while the owner of the voice showed up seemingly out of nowhere, his gentle green eyes on me and his calming hand on his brother's shoulder.

"It was fun while it lasted, but the shit with granny, Grandma, grandmother and Nana got really old really fast," I calmly stated before finally smiling and enveloping the newcomer in a hug. "Long time no see, Stefan."

The green-eyed boy smiled at me: "Keeping our favorite big brother busy, are you?"

The man in question scoffed again, his scowl deepening.

"Now, now, Damon. It's rude to scoff at family like that, didn't I tell you that already?" I clicked my tongue at him, nearly roaring with laughter as he growled.

"So what's up with the big funeral, anyway?" Stefan asked quickly in order to prevent any bloodshed that was sure to ensue at some point during the night.

I shrugged: "Your brother was being a jerk, as always."

"Oh, so when he does something bad, he's _my _brother, but when he's a hero, he's suddenly your only descendant, is that how you want to play it?" Stefan retorted back, tongue-in-cheek.

"Yep, that's what I says." I drawled out. "Now that we are finished with playing twenty one questions, I'll be at the car, and both of you will follow me."

The three of us flashed back to the road at the inhuman speed, ten werewolf corpses hidden behind us for eternity.

"Alright, Wicked Witch, what's the plan? With _you _blowing away our cover and me having to go to great lengths to save your teenage ass, we are pretty much fucked if we stay here any longer."

I stared in the back view mirror of the car, and two identical pairs of eyes stared back, one impatient and waiting for an answer, and the other frozen, cold gaze not focusing on anything, looking past the mirror and on the open road.

"Now we drive, Damon. Away from here and wherever the road takes us."

Stefan smiled back at me, an understanding in his gentle eyes, the warmth in them so different from the cold rage of his father's gaze. He knew. He knew and, despite not being with us when we went on that little mission, he understood perfectly that I hadn't found what I was looking for. My family, the original family wasn't here, and yet another one of the leads had fallen empty. I closed my eyes briefly, the images of my big sister and brothers present, always with me. And then the not-so-pleasant image of my father appeared, his gaze cold and calculating, eyes looking for a weak spot, hands reaching for a stake.

I opened my eyes, startled, and Damon smirked at me in the mirror, his posture relaxed. It was one of the rare moments where the smile reached his eyes, and I was flooded with memories that were older than old, my mother picking me up and twirling with the leaves falling from trees that are long dead now, her crystal clear blue eyes twinkling with laughter.

"Wherever the road takes us." Damon repeated with a small smile, reviving the vehicle to life.

As we drove past the sign that stated we were leaving What's-That-Town, Damon once again caught my eyes in the mirror.

"You know, I'm thinking California. Whether is nice this time of the year. What do you say, West?"

I smiled.

"Get it on, Salvatore."


	2. The Old Beginnings

Okay, there is serious lack of Jori interaction, but I promise you will get some very soon :) For now, I just wanted you to really get to know this new Jade, understand her and what drives her. And also I am still building the family ties between her and Salvatores. Also, I realize there are readers who are not familiar with the Vampire Diaries world, so I'm easing you into it, explaining some things along the way. But I promise, in the next chapters the shit will hit the fun. Boy, oh boy, do I have some twists and turns for you :)

Now, here, the makeshift family of our favorite vampires got to LA, and that means... Hollywood Arts is about to be introduced! :)

Alright, that's enough rambling from me. Enjoy your read, and please don't forget to review, feedback is always appreciated and much needed!

* * *

"No way in hell," Damon muttered, gazing at the enormous mansion that stood in front of him.

"I'll take a hunch and say you like it," I smirked at him as I passed by, unloading the car. Well, unloading wouldn't exactly be right, seeing as all the luggage we had was three duffel bags. And a suitcase for Damon. The man was serious about his Armani shirts.

"So you're saying you actually _build _this town?" Stefan had his eyebrows up in his hairline, also standing in front of the house, unmoving.

I rolled my eyes for what felt like a hundredth time, and I sensed it so was not the last.

"I didn't build the _whole_ town, it's the freakin' LA, Stefan. I _helped _to build _a part _of this town, the suburbs, which is where we are now. I had nothing to do with skylines and Starbuckses." I walked up the stairs to the main entrance. As I looked over my shoulder, the two idiots were still checking out the house.

Yep, there it was. The one hundred and one time of rolling my eyes. I scowled and quickly slipped into the familiar rage that was Jade West.

"If you two ganks are done being intimidated by a fucking house, be good southern gentlemen and move your luggage before I burn it down!"

They both almost jumped at that sudden volume, and of course Damon raised his eyebrow and flashed past me into the house, not giving the luggage a second glance.

Stefan smirked and moved to take the remaining bags.

"Leave the suitcase."

He just shook his head at me tiredly.

"Seriously? Both of you are older than me, with you being the one who started our bloodline, and still somehow I'm the one who seems the most adult."

"Oh, it's all that serious vampire look in your eyes, Steffy. You know, the one," He just continued to stare at me incredulously. "That haunted look of past mistakes, just seeking for redemption and swooning ladies who are team Edward."

He huffed at me.

"Keep mocking me. But if you wake up in the middle of the night with a stake in your chest, I'm not gonna shed any tears at your funeral."

"Oh, you're late for that." I smirked at him wickedly. "I already had a funeral, and it was a beautiful service."

As Stefan departed towards the house with another tired sigh, I picked up Damon's suitcase, running my hands along the smooth surface.

"Always wondered just how inflammable is the crocodile skin."

* * *

"You want to go to _school?_"

Oh dear. It was going to be a long day.

"Uh huh."

Damon sipped at the blood in his glass watching me and Stefan with entertained eyes.

"But why?"

"Stefan, you're the one who had what, _fifteen _graduations in the last forty years?" I took out a blood bag from the fridge, tearing it open and pouring the blood into a whiskey glass. "Are you really questioning me on the school decisions?"

He furrowed his eyebrows further, which seemed almost impossible to me, but now, look at him go with the whole brooding confusion.

"Yeah, but that's me. You _never _went to a high school. Universities are more your style. Why high school?"

"As much as it pains me to side with Saint Steffy here," Damon's voice reached my ears, and I turned around to find him standing beside his brother, "He's kinda right. While he was a good boy and got all the good grades and no detention, you and I tore Harvard a new one." He looked to the side, a finger on his chin, like he was remembering something. "And Yale. And Oxford. And there was that one time at the fashion university in Milan, which, by the way you still owe me for…"

"I got it, Damon," I forcefully gritted through my teeth, shutting him up. He shrugged and after downing the last of the blood, flashed to the door, tugging on his infamous leather jacket, the half-smirk in place.

"Whatever. If you two want to get nerdy, fine by me." He stepped out the door, half of his body hanging out the door opening as his hand gripped the handle. "All the more fun for me," he mockingly whispered, casting us the last glance.

The door closed.

"Jerk," I muttered, gulping the blood down. The lone crow outside the window flew away , the sound of its wings clapping drawing my attention to it. I span around at a slow pace, taking everything in again, the familiarity of the house making me smile.

"Hey," I turned around again to find Stefan lounging on the sofa, watching me carefully. "You okay?"

I shrugged.

"As okay as an immortal girl forever stuck in her teenage years can be," I easily replied, flashing to the sofa and unceremoniously dumping his legs to the floor so I could sit beside him.

"Jade."

"Stefan." I said back just as dramatically, mocking him. Stefan just smiled back and took my hand, running his thumb gently along my fingers.

"This place means a lot to you, doesn't it."

"Spot on."

"I can tell by the way you look at it. With this gaze, like you can't believe you are finally here." He scooted a bit closer to me, eyes searching my face, but not prying, never pushing. "Why did you decide to come back here only now? In the forty-five years we've known you, you never mentioned this place."

"For the reasons you just mentioned." I took my hand back from him, focusing on the glass before me, watching the blood slowly roll around the cool surface. "I can't believe I'm here because never in a million years I thought I'd be back here, Stefan." I let out a humorless laugh. "It does mean a lot to me. But the amount of bad memories far outweighs the good ones."

We sat in silence for what felt like hours.

"What happened here, Jade?" His voice was soft, as if scared he would make me retreat into myself, not wanting to push me.

Stefan Salvatore, always the composed one. The calm one. The good brother, making sure the bad one doesn't go off the deep end, finally drowning in his insanity.

Only it's the complete opposite, because Stefan is not in control, and probably never will be. He's the weak one, and as much as Damon seems unstable and crazy and impulsive, he's the one to get Stefan back on his feet and make him find himself again.

I closed my eyes and I was taken back in time, to the year of 1969, and all I could see was blood and torn bodies, Stefan looking at them with horror in his eyes and Damon gripping his shoulders, tugging him away and willing himself not to cry at the lost look on his little brother's face.

It was a hundred years since Salvatore brothers were turned when I found them. I stumbled upon Damon first. I saw his eyes in a poorly lit bar in New York, and the realization set in my stomach like a cold stone.

The descendant of the Original vampires, turned into a vampire himself. The irony wasn't lost on me, but by then I was too busy wrecking my mind with questions to acknowledge it. I was sure I didn't have any kids before I was turned, and my sister didn't either. It had to be our brothers knocking up one of the villagers before the most frightening night in our lives.

Later, I could care less about the implications and consequences that resulted in me having a great great great grandson , because Damon slid out of the bar stool, unstable on his feet, looking at me with the cold gaze, and I couldn't trace any humanity there because it was gone.

He was hurting, so he turned it off. You see, us vampires, we have this great thing. A humanity switch. As the guilt at killing humans and the pain from watching everyone you love die gets too much, we just turn it off. It's a beautiful thing in its ugliness, really: the raw animal side of a vampire coming out to play, all the deepest darkest desires that everyone buries, freed. It's so easy to switch it off, shut down all the feelings and unneeded emotions. Young vampires tend to do that often, after losing control and accidentally taking too much blood from a human, not wanting to deal with the guilt and self-hatred.

And then starts the most awesome party in their lives. They revel in it, the blood flowing and the bodies scattered around, everything is hazy with blood, alcohol and sex, and even though they are deader that dead, they feel the most alive. That's the danger of the switch.

Because once you turn it off, you don't want to go back to feeling – feeling always results in pain. And so hundredths of vampires party their un-life away before some Buffy-wannabe stakes them or other, older vampires themselves do the job. Yeah, vampires have no problems with killing other vampires, especially if their reckless behavior threatens to expose our entire race.

So, when you turn the switch, you are presented with the improved version of yourself. A superhuman, or should I say vampire, without the weakness of feeling. And in order to get back to yourself, you need to find something worth doing so.

For me, it was my family. And unsurprisingly enough, for Damon and Stefan, it was family, too.

It took me a year to get Damon to switch his humanity back on. It took Damon three days to get Stefan back, and it took us forty five years to start the healing process for him, and it's still a long road for him.

I was brought back to the present as Stefan gently nudged me with his shoulder.

"Where've you gone off to?"

I looked over at him, his eyes soft, his smile understanding, and I marveled at how different he was from No-Humanity Stefan. When Damon flips his switch, he's just a jerkier version of himself. When Stefan flips the switch, an entirely different person takes over his body. The Ripper. That's what he was called when we found him. No humanity, no regrets, no caution, leaving a trail of innocent bodies in his wake. And as he was forced to turn it on again, the guilt for everything he'd done slammed into him at full force, and it broke him.

And I knew for sure that the only thing preventing him from driving a stake through his heart was his big brother and me.

It's amazing how a broken person is held together by two people that are far more broken.

"I was here the entire time," I whispered to him. "And I always will be."

He just squeezed my hand in return, his smile growing a bit wider, the hidden meaning in my words reaching him.

And as I lifted my eyes to look out the window, Stefan's hand on mine, I silently promised to myself that one day I would tell them that they are the reason I was able to face my past and finally let it go.


	3. Revelations

Okay, so here, we finally get some action. However, it is not all rainbows and unicorns for our favourite girls. Please leave a review, I need to know whether this story is to your liking or not!

* * *

"This by far is the coolest high school I've ever attended." Stefan stated, taking in the wildly decorated lockers and the creative atmosphere of the building.

"Damon misses out on a lot right now," I agreed, also looking around. Stefan snorted.

"Please tell me you are kidding. He wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near all," he gestured around, "this."

"True. Besides, the man can't sing, draw or write to save his life."

"Yeah, he's all about logic. Although, you have to admit," Stefan adjusted the shoulder bag strap, "his acting is worthy of several Oskars."

I shrugged my shoulders, nodding my head in silent agreement.

"Alright, we need to get to the principal. Where do you think his office is?"

"It's her, actually."

Stefan and me span around to find a lanky skinny kid with afro looking at us curiously.

"Woah." He was practically eating me alive with his eyes peeking at me from his

glasses, and by the way Stefan shifted ever so slightly beside me I could tell he really disliked this strange kid.

I supressed my smile at that. Despite me being the oldest of the three of us, Salvatores were always so protective of me. I guess I really brought out the big brother in both of them. It was kinda cute, the way they felt the need to shield me from the danger.

Although, thinking back to the ten dead werewolves Damon tore apart and the bike gang Stefan beat up because they didn't like the way those guys were looking at me... Yeah, not so endearing now.

The weirdo in front of us raised his skinny finger and pointed at me.

"Hot!" My eyebrows rose up to my hairline by now. Stefan, realizing that kid wasn't dangerous at all, let out a chuckle. At that, the freak turned to him, and, shrugging, exclaimed another "Hot!" at Stefan.

Stefan's eyes almost bugged out of soccets and I just laughed.

"I think I overestimated the coolness of this school", my brother muttered under his breath, eyeing the freak warily.

"It's an art school, Stefan. I'm sure we'll meet a bunch of people even weirdier that Mr. Freak over here."

"I'm Sinjin!" The freak, or 'Sinjin', apparently, said, smiling creepily. "I like being weird," he whispered to me conspiratiously, trying to wink and failing miserably.

"Alright here, mister player," I was finally fed up with Sinjin at that point, and it was time he served his purpose. I inched closer to him, capturing his gaze, and as his eyes locked on mine, my pupils started dilating. Sinjin stood still, his gaze becoming empty.

"You will tell us where the principal's office is. Then you will turn away and walk from us in an opposite direction, and you will not remeber any of it," my voice was soft but firm, void of any emotion. "Do you understand?"

Sinjin nodded.

"The principal's office is on the first floor, room 35a on your left", he pointed behind us, his voice monotonous. Then he turned around and walked in a zombie fashion, still under the compulsion.

I smirked. Still got it.

"Jade."

Oh, right. I sighed and braced myself for the disapproving stare of Stefan the Saint.

"What? He was being annoying," I bit out at him, walking in the direction Sinjin pointed us to. Stefan hurried after me, his carefully shaped hair messing up from the speed.

"You know what. We don't compel people."

"No, _you_ dont't compel people, _I_ do it all the time," I retaliated, walking even faster.

Stefan's hand shot out and grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"Jade, you know it's not ri..."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because it's practically mind raping!" Several kids in the hallway flinched at his voice, and Stefan winced, dragging me away to a more secluded place near the bathroom doors. "Jade, look..."

"No, Stefan, you look," I interrupted him once again, before taking a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry." He gave me a look of surprise, no doubt awed at me giving up so easily. "I'll… tone it down, okay?" At his victorious half-smile, I growled. "Get the bloody smirk off your face, Salvatore."

"Why yes I will try to diminish it, de-ah sist-ah," Stefan replied, mocking the accent I sometimes let out.

"You're pathetic at this, you know that?"

"Yeah well, I'm not the one who was born in England and lived there for seventeen years."

"Fuck off, Stefan."

* * *

Tori realy didn't feel like going to school today.

Actually, she pretty much dreaded the day, and as the alarm went off, for the first time in her life she contemplated not getting up and playing sick. Which she was, just not physically.

The tan brunette groaned in her pillow, remembering the last night. She really should have listened to Elena and just stayed home, but no, instead she snuck out, went to a party, got drunk and then got groped by none other than Beckett Oliver, the school's most known jerk. At least she wasn't too drunk and managed to push him away before it got too far, proceeding then to frantically call her older sister Elena and sob something incohorent into the phone.

She sighed again, getting up and walking into the bathroom she shared with Elena. As Tori went through her morning routine, she thanked her lucky stars for having such a cool sister. Elena got to the party as soon as she received her call, picking her up and taking care of her the whole night. And even though she was sure she was about to get lectured on the way to school, the disapproving glances being thrown her way, Tori knew it just showed that Elena cared about her little sister.

Tori wondered what it would be like if she didn't have a sister, only her brother Jeremy. She giggled to herself. They would probably be holed up in the house all the time, him drawing away and her writing songs, with occasional social contact with the mailman. Or what if she had someone other than Elena as her sister? She could've been stuck with someone like Trina Vega. Tori shuddered at the thought, making a face at herself in the mirror.

"What got you all hot and bothered this morning?" A voice as raspy and rich as her own questioned from the door.

Tori turned her head to see Elena, clad in her pajamas, looking at her questionally, a carefully shaped eyebrow slightly lifted.

"Um, it's nothing," Tori chuckled. "Just thinking how far I would've made it if Trina Vega was my older sister instead of you."

Elena let out a little laugh at that before catching herself and frowning at the younger Gilbert sister.

"Tori, she's not that bad. It's not cool talking, or in your case, thinking trash about people behind their backs."

Tori protested as Elena stood in front of the mirror next to her: "It's not _behind _her back if she already knows that no one likes her!"

"Victoria."

Tori winced slightly. If Elena slipped into the full-name-calling mode, she was dead serious. God, she was such a mom sometimes.

"Alright, that was wrong of me, but you have to admit…"

"Uh-uh!" Elena raised her finger, pointing at Tori's face, interrupting her.

"B-but…"

"Nope."

"But 'Lena…"

"Nuh-uh!"

Tori huffed at her.

"Fine! No more bad word about Trina Vega." At Elena's look, she continued. "Or other people, for that matter."

Elena chuckled before turning to the mirror. Tori observed their reflection. Sometimes, despite their two-year age difference, people confused them for twins, and right now, Tori could really understand those people. The were almost the same height, with Elena being a bit taller. Same caramel skin, same chestnust soft hair that cascaded down their tan shoulders. As Elena lifted her head up, Tori was greeted with doe-like deep chocolate eyes, identical to her own. Maybe they really were twins, but Elena just turned out to be too smart and skipped two grades, and their parents decided to lie about her age so she wouldn't feel like a freak? Wow, that's an idiotic thing to think. Tori shook her head slightly at her absurd thoughts.

Elena put her toothbrush down and gave Tori a half-smile that was famous for driving all the boys at school crazy and usually got her out of all the troubles. Not that she was in trouble often. Elena was a poster girl for a perfect daughter, good grades, talent, and sweet nice boys for boyfriends.

Meanwhile, Tori was busy breaking rules and slutting around at parties.

The younger brunette sighed before turning to the mirror once again. She probably should cut herself some slack. It wasn't like it happened on a regular basis, so it wasn't like she would turn into one of these awful girls who partied their life away. Or… Lane, the school counselor, always said that it always started that way. It's just one drink, no harm. It's just one cigarette, no harm. And then boom, you're pregnant at sixteen, your parents are kicking you out, you live on the street and you're a drug addict. Oh God, she wasn't ready for something like that! What was she going to do now? What if…

"You're freaking out," Elena stated calmly, watching Tori with amused expression.

"I'm sorry, okay!" Tori exploded, the fear evident on her face. "I wasn't going to sneak out last night, it's just, I don't know, I wanted to see what the fuss was about, and I know you told me I shouldn't go to Beck's house, but I didn't listen and I'm so sorry, and I don't want to end up on the street doing drugs, but…"

"Hey, calm down!" Elena placed her hands on her litlle sister's shoulders, clearly surpressing her laughter. "No one is being kicked out, and no one is doing drugs. Breathe, Tori."

Tori slowly breathed in and out, getting her breath under control. Elena smiled at her before continuing:

"So you snuck out for a party. It's alright, you're sixteen. When I was sixteen I snuck out all the time."

Tori snorted, not believing her, until she saw the look on Elena's face.

"No way… You little chiz! I never would've guessed!"

"Yeah well, being best friends with Calorine-the-life-of-the-party-Forbes certainly has its perks." Elena turned to leave, throwing her a wink over her shoulder. "The only difference between bad girls and good girls is that good girls don't get caught, little sister."

Tori snickered and hanged the towel back. As she prepared to leave, the door on Elena's side of the bathroom opened, and Elena peeked through the opening, half of her body visible.

"Or, and Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"If Trina Vega was _my_ sister, I'd probably drown her in a bathtub." With another wink, Elena was gone.

Tori smiled and went to start her preparation for the day. It was turning out to be pretty awesome, after all.

* * *

"Hiiiiii!"

Tori smiled in spite of herself. Cat was hyper as usual, bouncing on her feet slightly as she skipped to them on the parking lot.

"Oh hey, Cat," Elena greeted her as she got out of the car from the driver's side, taking out her bag. "How are yo-umph!"

"I'm assuming our dear sister is being smashed by the red hurricane named Cat?" Jeremy Gilbert asked, amused, as he to gout out of the Elena's car.

"Careful, Jer, we're next," Tori mockingly warned him. And, sure enough, a second later she got an armful of Cat Valentine. She locked her chocolate eyes on her sister's ones, silently pleading for help. Elena smirked.

"Nope. I'm not helping you with your clearly sugar-overdosed friend, so you're on your own."

Tori was released as violently as she was hugged, the redhead spinning around so fast Tori was amazed she didn't knock herself over.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Elena was spotting the deer-caught-in-headlights expression, her eyes wide as she looked at Tori and Jeremy helplessly. Now it was Tori's turn to smirk. Elena scowled at her before turning her attention to Cat who was still fuming.

"Nothing, sweetheart, I was just wondering if you had those Atomic Velvet cupcakes for breakfast."

"Oh, yes, I love those!" Cat brightly smiled and jumped a little, giggling to herself. "Wow, my hair looks super red today," she observed, a lock of hair in her hand.

Tori groaned quietly. Atomic cupcakes had twice the amount of sugar as Red Velvet cupcakes, and that meant dealing with extremely hyper Cat for the rest of the day and making sure she didn't sugar-crushed in the janitor's closet. Again. Yeah, don't ask.

"Whoa, someone can actually eat those things? Last time I tried, I soiled myself from both ends of my body." Jeremy stated, looking at Cat with the mixture of fear and awe in his eyes.

"Charming, Jeremy," Elena dryly remarked. "We need to get a move on if we want to make it to the first period, so let's go."

"Oh yay, Jeremy is here!"

"No-no-no, Cat, wait, I think I pulled a muscle yester-umph!"

"No one escapes the red hurricane, Jer. No one." Tori said laughingly as she passed Jeremy and a giggling Cat with Elena.

"Dang it! Tori! 'Lena! Uh… Cat… Can't… Breathe…"

Tori sincerely hoped Jeremy made it to school, but the sound of Cat's crystal laugh told her that was a vain hope.

* * *

"Your hair smells exrta nice today."

Tori jumped a foot in the air, startled, before she turned to find Sinjin there. Of course.

"How many times do I have to say 'cut it out' before you stop sniffing me!" She hissed at him, embarassed at being scared like that.

"Uh, I'm not gonna stop," he said in a deadpan fashion before leaving, an air of werdness around him. Tori just shook her head, scowling.

"That kid is so weird." The youngest Gilbert looked over her shoulder, the sight of her sister pressed against the locker greeting her.

"What is it with people sneaking up on me today?" Tori asked rhetorically, spinning the combination on her locker. She chewed her lip, gatering in her memory just which books she needed for today. Elena stood beside her, watching her silently.

"You're staring, and it's creepy," Tori glanced at her sister.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay," Elena said softly, touching her sister's arm. "So, are you okay?"

"I… I don't know," Tori ran her hand through her hair, nervous. "I haven't seen Beck yet, so the humilation part of the day hasn't really started." Elena chuckled at that, her dark eyes on Tori's face. "But… overall, I am. The only thing that bugged me since you picked me up from that awful night was your reaction to it, and, well, since our morning talk, I'm all good."

"Alright. By the way, have you seen Andre? I can't find Bonnie, she hasn't been returning my calls all morning."

"No, but I have the next period with him," Tori looked past Elena's shoulder and caught a glimpse of Andre walking to them. "Speak of the devil. Hey Andre!"

The dark-skinned musician grinned widely and skipped to the Gilbert sisters, a spring in his step.

"Hey hey hey! How are my favourite Latinas doing this fine afternoon?"

"You know we are only half-Latinas, right?" Elena smiled at him before pecking his cheek. "Hi. Did Bonnie spend the night at yours? I can't find her all day."

"Nope," Andre shook his head and leaned over to greet Tori in the same fashion as Elena. "As far as I know, my favourite cousin was at Grams last night. She probably overslept, you know how she gets sometimes."

"Yeah, she's also your _only _cousin, so the 'favorite' part kinda falls out here," Tori nudged him with her shoulder.

"No, Cat, I will not give you any candy!"

"But Boniiieee…"

The Gilberts and Andre looked in the direction the voices were coming from, revealing a tired-looking dark-skinned girl Elena's age and pityful Cat walking behind her.

"Looks like you found her, 'Lena," Andre said to the older brunette, his wary eyes on Cat. "Hey Lil'Red, how are you?"

"Your cousin is being mean to me!" Cat pouted.

"Uh… Okay, c'mon, let's get yo some nice sandwich, waddaya say?" Andre gently took Cat's elbow, tugging her to the café, but not before throwing an apologetic smile to the girls.

"Oh God," the newcomer girl groaned and rubbed her temples. "I didn't get much sleep last night again, and now I overslept the first period. Great, just great!"

Elena and Tori shared a look full of concern.

"Why didn't you, Bonnie?" Elena looked around and dropped her voice to the whisper: "Are you… having episodes again?"

"Something like that," Bonnie sighed. "I…" she stopped suddenly, seemingly only noticing Tori standing there. "Oh, hey Tori. How, um, how are you?"

"I'm great and just about to leave," Tori smiled at friends in understanding.

"No, Tori you don't have to," Bonnie grabbed her arm. "I'm serious," she said with a small laugh as Tori raised her eyebrows. "Stay. It's nothing. I'm cool, really."

Tori smiled back at her. However, she still felt a bit awkward. Even though Elena was the best sister she could've had, they both had different friends, and Elena's best friends, Bonnie and Caroline also treated her like a little sister. And that was the thing: she didn't want to be babied. Sure, she was just Elena Gilbert's kid sis, but she felt there was much more to her than that. With her own friends, she felt more… adult.

"Hey, look," Tori was brought out of her thoughts by Bonnie whispering excitedly. "Who is the hottie that just walked in?"

Tori looked back to the school entrance to find a tall guy looking around in awe, a girl a bit taller than Tori beside him.

"I don't know.. I haven't seen them around much." Elena frowned. "That's odd. It's the middle of semester, so it's doubtful someone was transferred."

"Well, maybe they got in like I did?" Tori suggested, her eyes trained on the girl that stood near the mysterious guy. Well, the girl was even more mysterious than him, with her dark clothes and brunette curls framing her pale face. The guy said something to her, and she nodded at that. The guy was also fairly pale, his hair a shade lighter than the girl's and shaped up. From the distance she couldn't really see what color their eyes were, but she could see a very sight resemblance. They could be siblings, she thought.

"Yeah right," Bonnie scoffed. "If they are _anything _like you, we would've heard about them transferring here."

Tori blushed at that, her eyes finding Elena, seeking her help, but her older sister just beamed with pride at Bonnie's words.

"That's true. Everyone still remembers the showcase. That was really awesome, and to think it happened thanks to Trina Vega and her strange infatuation with suspicious voice-enhansing products."

"Oh my God, that's right! If it wasn't for Andre getting stuck with that gank for the showcase and Tori having to help him out, who knows what would've happened," Bonnie said with a laugh.

"She would've gotten in anyway," Elena shrugged, smiling. "I would've ended up dragging her to the audition myself."

"Uh-oh," Bonnie muttered. "Look."

The Gilberts went back to observing the scene, and Sinjin just added himself to the equation.

"Woah. I think this guy is about to beat him up with the way he's all tensed up," Bonnie whispered. "That's hot!"

"Dude!" Elena exclaimed in a whisper, nudging Bonnie. "Since when are you such a horndog?"

"I'm not, I'm just appreciating a bit of sexiness in men," Bonnie batted her eyelashes at Elena with a faux innocence.

"Right," Elena muttered under her breath.

Just then, the girl slowly advanced on Sinjin, as if she was going to pounce on him. Tori felt her breath hitch in her throat as her eyes took the girl in, her strong back clad in a black shirt, her long legs going on forever and her... What was wrong with her?!

Tori slightly widened her eyes as she realized she just shamelessly checked this girl out. Whoa. Is she…? Nah. She's not… Right?

As Tori stood there debating her sexuality and newfound fondness of female body parts, the girl stopped, somehow catching Sinjin in trance. Tori observed the way he suddenly stood still, his face becoming an emotionless mask.

What was happening?

"Guys, guys, look," she impatiently threw over her shoulder, interrrupting one of Elena and Bonnie's banters about boyfriends and the way the lack of said boyfriends was affecting Bonnie. "Is it me or Sinjin looks… weirder than usual?"

The girls grew quiet, watching the interaction between Sinjin and a mysterious pair. They saw Sinjin saying something blankly and then without another word turning and leaving.

"Woah," Bonnie whispered in awe. "What did those two do?"

"It wasn't them," Tori replied, just as transfixed. "It was the girl. I think… It looked like she hypnotized him or something."

"Do you think she could be…" Elena trailed off, her eyes growing uncertain as gave Elena a quick glance and returned to Bonnie. "If she's kinda… like you?"

Bonnie nervously looked around, also stealing a quick glance at Tori and turning to Elena again. "I don't know, but I think it's worth checking out."

"Wait," Tori looked between Bonnie and her sister. "What do you mean like you?"

"Um… " Bonnie visibly debated something.

"Bonnie, you don't have to tell her, if you're not ready," Elena said worryingly.

"No. No, it's alright. I was waiting for an opportunity to tell her, and now it's here." The green-eyed girl took a deep breath, checked the hallway to find it empty, and looked back at Tori. "I trust her."

Elena nodded.

"Okay, look," Bonnie inched a bit closer to Tori. "You know my Grandma, right?"

"Which one, the one who's crazy or the one who likes a lot of wine?" Tori questioned, trying to lighten up the mood.

"The one with the wine," Bonnie dismissed her joke impatiently, her green eyes serious. "She says that Bennets, our family, came from Salem. And our ancestors were…"

"…The Salem witches," Tori finished for her. "So, what, you trying to say you're a witch?"

Bonnie gave her a quick nod.

"Come on," Tori drawled, her smile growing. Bonnie and Elena just continued staring at her, their expressions serious. "Wait, you're not yanking my chain?"

"No, she's not," Elena said, exchanging glances with the dark-skinned girl. "I've seen it myself. She can do some stuff."

"What… what stuff?" Tori asked curiously. Bonnie shrugged and suddenly looked up at the open locker behind the younger brunette. The door closed with a loud sound, and Tori almost jumped.

"Woah…" She touched her locker, running fingers along the words 'Make It Shine'. "You did this?"

"Yep. And about to do," Bonnie concentrated, closing her eyes, "this."

'Make It Shine' writing on the locker turned up by itself, its light seemingly brighter than before.

"Holy crap!" Tori exclaimed, ignoring the look Elena gave her at her curse. "That's super cool! How did you do that?!"

Bonnie tugged on her arm to get her to quiet down.

"I have no other explanation than magic. But Tori, you can't tell _anyone_. Even Cat." Bonnie seemed thoughtful for the moment. "Wait, especially Cat."

"Oh yeah. Last night, when Tori called so I could pick her up from the party, Cat took the phone and I listened to her going on about random things she saw around her for ten minutes before I could get her to tell me the address." Elena stated, clearly still in disbelief. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore the girl, but she has her moments."

The unique bell of Hollywood Arts prevented Tori from asking anything else, and she got her backpack from the floor, turning to leave for Sikowitz's acting class.

She passed the entrance and thought back to the mystery girl form earlier. Was she also a… a witch? And would Tori see her again?

As she hurried to the class, it completely escaped her notice that she didn't give a second thought to the handsome guy that was with the brunette girl.

* * *

I never particularly liked acting. Singing was more my kind of scene, but beggars can't be choosers, so there I stood in front of the room 101, "Improv" with Sikowitz on my schedule. I opened the door and sipped at my coffee, reveling in the way the hot liquid scalded my tounge and the burns healed immediately, pain quick and barely noticable.

Whoever said that being alive is great clearly hadn't experienced the wonders of vampire healing.

As I mused to myself, someone skinny, tan and warm slamed into me, making me spil the scalding drink all over my chest. My eyes widened at the way my pale skin got red and burnt, and I chastited myself for not picking a more modest shirt this morning. Shoud've listened to a grumbling Damon this morning.

I just hoped that this girl hadn't noticed the damage on my skin.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry! Oh no no no, your skin, it's gonna scar if we don't treat it, I'm so sorry!"

Well, there went my hopes. I gritted my teeth, thinking back to the promise I made to Stefan. I wasn't here even for an hour, and already I am forced to use compulsion on another person. Fucking great.

"Look at me," I said firmly. The freaking out girl stopped her flailing around and lifted her eyes at me, looking horrified. She was pretty, with her flawless naturally tan skin, big chocolate eyes and perfect cheekbones. She looked a bit Spanish to me, and if it wasn't for a completely petrified look on her face, I would call her beautiful.

My pupils dilated as I once again worked my mind control on a human being.

"Calm down. Nothing happened. You didn't do anything, now get away from me," I coldly stated, never breaking her eye contact.

"What?! I just completely damaged thirty percent of skin on your body!" Alright, now that the crisis is averted, I… Wait. What the hell?!

The compulsion didn't work on her.

I observed her, inhaling the air. She didn't smell like vervain, the herb that acted as a shield from vampires, so that wasn't the thing that protected her from me.

She wasn't taking or wearing vervain, and _my compulsion didn't work on her._

"What just was that? That thing with your eyes? They went a bit… weird, like the pupils were moving or something…" She trailed off, her eyes falling to my chest and widening. "Yo-your chest, it's… it's healed! But _how_? I saw, I saw with my own eyes as coffee _burned _you!"

Before she could've made a big scene, I grabbed her elbow and dragged her to the end of the classroom.

"Look," I hissed, my eyes on her once again, "Just _drop it, _okay? I have a weird quirk where I'm easily irritated when people are all up in my business, and you _really _don't want to cross me, little miss sunshine. Got it?" I might not be able to compel this girl for whatever reason, but I was perfectly in shape to intimidate her.

She gulped, her eyes filling with slight fear instead of disbelief, and I inwardly smirked.

"Do you understand?" I asked in the gankiest manner possible, my gaze cold.

"Y-yes, I understand. I'm _really _sorry." She whispered, looking in my eyes a bit too long for my liking. At the point where her staring was beginning to be considered really uncomfartable, I growled: "You done eye-fucking me, princess?"

She immediately averted her gaze, her face instantly going scarlet, and if I didn't witness it with my own eyes, I never would've belived someone could turn this red in a matter of seconds.

"I-I wasn't, I mean, that, I-I just…"

I just gave her a smug smile, watching as she stumbled over her words. Woah, if she turned a bit redder, her head was going to explode.

I would _love _wintessing that.

"Fire, there is a fire in the building!" A balding middle-aged man without shoes suddenly ran into the classroom, panic in his voice. "Quick, everyone, escape through the window!"

Everyone scuttered around and I inwardly groaned. Maybe coming back to LA wasn't such a good idea.

"Calm down, teenagers!" The man now stood on a little scene in the classroom front, smiling. "There is no fire."

"Well why did you say there was fire?!" She-Who-Cannot-Be-Compelled asked exasperatedly, throwing her arms in the air. Geez, what a drama queen. Although, she did have a point. Not that I would admit that to her. I had a weird feeling about the girl the instant the coffee temperature hit me on my chest. She was not an ordinary human, that was for sure.

"Because, Tori, I needed all of you awake and ready for the lesson, so," the man, Sikowitz, as I assumed, tapped her nose, "I perked you all up."

"Now," the crazy teacher got up on the scene again, "I need to announce a new student. Is," he took out a note and concentrated on it, "Jade Salvatore here?"

"That would be me," I called out from the last row and immediately was weirded out by the way everyone simultaneously turned around in their seat and looked expectantly at me.

"Aha!" Sikowitz exclaimed. "Alright, Jade, to the scene! Introduce us with a little bit of acting action! Now, you will be portraying…"

As Sikowitz went on, I concentrated on Tori again, sniffing the air and trying to identify her. And then I felt it.

The disgusting smell of a wet dog reached my nostrils, and I barely caught myself from exposing my fangs.

Werewolf.

* * *

"Werewolf?" Stefan asked again, frowning. "In LA?"

It was lunch time, and I met with him at the parking lot after I texted him to meet me there asap.

"It's not that hard to believe, Stefan," I snapped at him, looking around to make sure Tori wasn't around. Wolfes have about the same senses as us, and I couldn't risk her hearing our conversation.

"But do you know for sure?"

"I tried to compel her, and I failed, I've never compeled a wolf before, so I'm just going to go ahead and assume werewolves cannot be compelled, I sniffed around the classrom and I caught a wolf's scent in the air, _what_ more do you need?" I bitingly replied, irritated. Stefan sighed.

"Your accent is showing again."

"When then quit pissing me off, brother!" I hissed.

"Okay, be calm now," he raised his hands in a non-threatining manner. "I know that it makes sense, but we need to be absolutely sure before doing something drastic."

"Oh, I'm all about making sure," I reached into my bag and took out a small glass bottle with yellowish liquid inside. "Some grounded aconyte with water for lunch, Steffy?"

He widened his eyes at me: "Wolf's bane? You carry it around?"

"You can never be too prepared," I echoed my own words at him from twenty years ago. "That's why I make you and your brother drink vervain so you two will grow immune to it, that's why we have another set of daywalking rings around, and that's why this, along with other things," I held up a bottle to the eye level, "is in my purse."

"So what's the plan?" Stefan asked warily, looking at the bottle. Aconyte was just as poisonous to vampires as the vervain, with only one difference: only the vervain protected people from our compulsion. Other effects were the same, it burned our skin, and it weakened us when digested. That was why I also took our a pair of medical gloves.

"Oh, the plan is genious in its simplicity. I am going to feed the bane to the wolf at lunch, and when she reveales herself," I smirked evily, "I am going to eat her."


	4. Revelations pt2

"Hey chica, what's up?"

Tori looked up from her salad to see Andre grinning at her, his piano keyboard under his arm and their close friend Robbie Shapiro standing beside him. She groaned and put her head in her hands instead of answering.

"Woah, what's wrong, Toro?" Robbie asked worryingly, sitting down. Andre mirrored him, concern also evident on his face.

"Not much, I just simply made a fool out of myself as usual," Tori whined from behind her hands covering her face.

"C'mon Tor, it can't be that bad," Andre tried to cheer her up, smiling. "Now tell Dr. Dre what's happened."

"Really? You still go by this nickname?" Robbie inquired curiously, straightening his glasses. «I thought you'd come up with something of more original nature by now, since..."

"Um, guys? My problem? Careful understanding listening required?" Tori called out from her sit.

"Right, sorry Tori."

"Yeah, we're sorry, now fess up!"

"I spilled hot coffee all over this new girl, and to make matters worse, she turned out to be one of the unforgiving types," Tori sighed. "I was so frightened by her I fled from the classrooom as soon as the bell rang."

Andre and Robbie shared a look.

"What?" Tori asked warily.

"Well, and don't beat me up over it," Andre started nervously, "but I got a feeling that wasn't the only reason for you to ran from Sikowitz's lesson."

Tori groaned again. She forgot all about the encounter she was dreading the moment that burning liquid touched the new girl's pale chest.

She was too busy being mesmerized by crystal icy gaze. Or, 'eye-f-fu'...

'Oh for God's sakes, you surely can say it at least in your head', Tori thought darkly to herself.

'Eye-fucking', as Jade so delicately put it.

So, yeah. All thoughts of the disaster that was last night were completely wiped out of her mind as she had some other interesting things to deal with.

Not that she meant it in some dirty sense!

Tori blushed.

"Well?"

The youngest Gilbert glanced up to find the boys looking at her expectantly.

"I just completely forgot all about Beck Oliver. Dammit!"

"Whoa," Andre chuckled. "That new chick is tough if she just scared the memory outta ya."

Tori was too busy freaking out again to notice his clever word play. Beck. The jock, the actor, the jerk of the Hollywood Arts. He was a grade older than her and her friends, and was known for trying to get into every other girl's pants around.

And at the party, when she was kinda-really drunk, he proceeded to grind and bump against her on the dancefloor to a particularly dirty beat, and she _let_ him.

Not only they danced, but he also made out with her neck before she actually realized what the hell was going on and pushed him away. Oh, God.

Tori whimpered pathetically at the memory, wishing for the nmphteen time she just stayed at home.

"Hey, there's Jeremy," Robbie said, waving the Gilbert boy over.

"What's up with the pathetic face, little sis?" Jeremy presented himself at the table, bumping Andre's fist with his own and nodding to Robbie.

"Oh not much, just your sis using Beck as her pole yesterday at the party," Andre remarked laughingly before catching the murder in Tori's eyes and gulping in slight fear.

"Wait, you were at the party last night?" Jeremy asked, confused. "I didn't see you there."

"You were there?" Tori asked back, just as confused. "Dang it, Jer, I could've caught a ride with you instead of waking Elena up in the middle of the night!" She hissed angrily.

Jeremy winced.

"Um… I don't think you'd be okay with me driving you home. I wasn't exactly in the right condition."

"Wait, I thought you hated alcohol," Robbie confusedly stated.

"Oh, he does," Tori said, her tone getting even angrier, all thoughts about Beck and last night's embarrassment forgotten. "Jeremy, you _promised _you won't be using again. Where did you even get the pot?"

Andre caught on what Tori was angry about and also looked at Jeremy disapprovingly, clicking his tongue.

"Hey, whoa, whoa," Jeremy raised his hands in a surrender. "Chillax, sis. I'm an artist, I like to sometimes kick back and relax and find some inspiration for my drawings. Besides, one time's no harm, it's not like it's cocaine or other heavy drug like that."

"One time's no harm, oh, right," Tori mocked him. "That's how it all starts, Jer! Elena is going to _kill _you."

"_If _she finds out, which she will not," Jeremy calmly stated before taking a bite out of his turkey sandwich.

"How can you be so calm?!" Tori's voice went up a few octaves, and she didn't care. She was furious. "You know what happened the last time, and now you're doing it again!"

"Who's doing what again?" Tori flinched as Elena typically appeared at the most interesting part of the conversation, sitting on a bench near Tori with her burrito and eyeing them curiously.

"Wow, you're really jumpy today, Tori," she remarked with a smile, her comforting hand on younger brunette's shoulder. "So, who's doing what?"

Tori's eyes found Jeremy's pleading gaze, and she sighed inwardly. Next second, she found herself smiling back at Elena and saying: "We just thought Robbie confused the bathroom freshener bottle with deodorant again, but turns out it's just his new cologne."

"Hey!" Robbie protested at that. "Stop that!" He addressed Elena who was trying to sniff him without being noticed. The older Gilbert sheepishly smiled at him.

"Okay… So why are you at the youngsters' table and not with the cheerleading squad?" Jeremy asked Elena, seemingly trying to change the subject. Tori glared at him, signaling it wasn't over, and he ducked his head, letting some of his dark bangs fall over his face, effectively shielding himself from Tori's wrath.

Elena raised her eyebrow at the weirdness that was Jeremy Gilbert, but thankfully she let it slide and just answered the question instead.

"What, I can't have lunch with my favorite siblings and their friends now?"

"Nope," Jeremy and Tori said simultaneously.

Elena sighed. "Fine. I'm still waiting for Caroline and Bonnie to finish their R'n'B vocals. I got no idea why the heck Caroline took this class, though," She picked at her burrito, carefully looking it over before taking a small bite. "And I have a feeling she doesn't know why, either."

"Guess she hoped for some new hotties to join the school this year," Andre thought out loud.

"Oh, speaking of hotties," Elena looked to her sister, "Did you see the newcomers in any of your classes? I thought I would see the guy in mine, but he wasn't with me this period."

"You talking about the new girl? Oh, Tori met her, alright," Andre suppressed a chuckle.

"Really?" Elena spun in her seat, looking at Tori expectantly. "What was she like? Anything…" She caught herself, looking around the table at the boys before finishing lamely: "… interesting? Did you get to know her?"

As Tori went to say something to possibly save her from at least some of the humiliation, Andre answered for her again:

"If you call burning the girl alive with hot coffee and then getting the chiz scares outta ya 'getting to know' someone, then Toro nailed it!"

Tori just stared at him, incredulous.

"Seriously, _why _are we friends?"

Andre snorted, picking at his chicken.

"Same reason Elena is friends with Caroline and Bonnie," he stated. "We grew up together, that's all."

"So you're saying if I had a fortune of being born somewhere in West Virginia, I could've lived without the daily humiliation and interrogation on your part?" Tori inquired, her face dead serious.

"Something like that," Andre replied casually, shrugging at her.

"Okay, hold up," Elena chose that moment to interrupt the bickering. "What was that about scalding someone?"

"Hey, there's Caroline!" Tori exclaimed a bit too enthusiastically, frantically waving at her. "Hey Care, we're here!"

The cheerleader saw the group and walked towards them, a practiced brilliant smile showing off her pearly whites and the sunshine bouncing off of her golden curls.

"Hey guys," she beamed at everyone, coming near Elena. "Tori, why is Beck looking for you?"

Tori whirled around and looked at Caroline, mortified. Elena glanced at her sister worryingly before also looking up at the blonde.

"I-I, I don't know, why, did he say something, how did he ask you, did he sound… more jerk-like than usual?!" Tori rushed out. Caroline just stared at her, confused, as the youngest Gilbert tried to get her breathing under control.

"No, he just asked… Tori, are you okay?"

And just like always, Andre chose that moment to finally destroy what was left of Tori's dignity.

"Nah, she's cool, Care, she's just freaking out over the last night's events, yunno, hanging all over Oliver at the party."

"Andre!" Both Gilbert girls cried out simultaneously, one with a glare and a promise of future pain to come, and another disapprovingly.

"Really?! That's cool!" Caroline tried to high-five Tori, but the mortified look in brunette's eyes slowed her roll.

"How is that cool, Care?" Jeremy piped up from his seat, realizing that right then Tori had something else on her plate to deal with besides his little addiction.

Caroline shrugged, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. "C'mon. Tori, as well as her _prude _of a sister," she pointedly looked at Elena, at which the latter just smirked, "need to live a little. And what's 'living a little' if not going to dangerous parties and making bad decisions about boys?" She narrowed her green eyes at Tori. "You might feel like you need to fill out the 'Hispanic Mother Teresa' shoes your big sis left for you, but that's a load of crap."

"Again, we're _half-_Latina, as in not completely," Elena interrupted, throwing her arms in the air in a jokingly frustrated manner.

"As I was _saying,_" Caroline threw Elena a quick glare, "luckily for little Gilbert, she has a much cooler, non-blood related sister who will teach her how to live it up!" She finished her tirade with a fist in the air.

Tori winced. Not that she didn't like Caroline; it was just… sometimes she was too much for her. Caroline Forbes was the Queen Bee of Hollywood Arts – cheerleading captain, head of _every _committee, star of every play and 'the life of the party', as Elena called her earlier today. And while Tori appreciated that Caroline tried to treat her more like an adult than Bonnie and Elena, sneaking her alcohol at parties and letting her drive her car, she certainly wasn't going to let Care turn her into another Caroline Forbes.

"Oh, she knows how to live it up, apparently, she got so excited over meeting a new girl she spilled coffee all over her," Jeremy remarked from his sit, sipping at his soda.

"Yeah, about that," Elena turned to Tori again, a question in her calm eyes.

"Oooo-kay," Tori said loudly, rising from her seat. She had enough for today. "We're not discussing how 'little Gilbert got some action on the dancefloor'," she glared at Caroline who was just about to speak up, "_and _we're not talking about the _minor _and completely _not _life-threatening incident with the coffee. Got it?" Everyone just stared at her, jaws hanging. "Got it?!" She asked more forcefully and there were satisfying nods. "Good. I'm gonna get something to drink and head to class." With that, she turned around and went to the truck, fuming.

"Alright, _someone _needs to get laid," Care stated sassily, ignoring an angry 'Caroline!' and a smack to her arm she got from Elena. "We're leaving too, losers. Get up," she ordered to the oldest Gilbert sibling and spun on her heels, heading to the senior part of the cafeteria. Elena smiled apologetically to everyone at the table before gathering her bag and following her, tossing the last worried glance at Tori.

The said Gilbert was surprised steam wasn't coming out of her ears. Somehow, she always ended up being the center of jokes in their little group. Granted, she partly contributed to that by being her usual awkward self, but still. Was it too much to ask for a little respect from her so-called friends and family?

She slowly made her way to the vending machine, taking a big calming breath. 'C'mon, Tori,' she tried to talk herself down, 'it's not like they meant anything by it. Relax.'

Those 24 hours had been too much for her fragile teenage mind. Ruining her reputation at a party, having a breakdown in her sister's arms, finding out Bonnie's a witch, making a complete fool out of herself in front of a new girl, _and _finding the said girl a little too attractive to be comfortable for her _supposedly _straight self. Just great. Not only was she…

Tori's depressing train of thoughts was halted to a stop as she bumped into someone. Today was so not her day, for sure. 'Well, at least I didn't ruin _this_ coffee for someone', she thought to herself as her gaze focused on a Styrofoam cup of coffee which was gripped by pale fingers.

"We got to stop meeting like that, princess," a sharp voice said, a smirk almost palpable.

Tori felt her mouth go dry.

"Oh, God. Um," she wrecked her mind to say something clever and witty, but she had nothing as she found herself once again staring into the unbelievably blue eyes of none other than Jade Salvatore. Seriously, could eyes actually _be _that color? It was like she was looking at two circle-shaped pieces of blue ice implanted into the eye. Those just _had_ to be lenses.

"Yes? Were you going somewhere with that 'um'?" Tori was brought back to earth as Jade looked at her with a quirk to her pierced eyebrow. And, judging by the way Jade was smirking at her, she knew _exactly _what she was doing to Tori.

And she most probably enjoyed it.

"Not really," Tori stammered and mentally slapped her forehead. "I was just cheering inside that the number of cups of coffee I spill on people daily is still accounted to one." She shyly tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, giving Jade a half-smile.

Wait. She gave her _the _half-smile. The one _every _girl on the planet uses for flirting.

Oh God, was she _flirting _with her now?!

"Well, I guess I should cheer with you, then," Jade replied, never taking her crystal eyes away from Tori's chocolate ones. "I mean, I'm new to town, but from what I've gathered, usually it's me who's on the receiving end of your coffee spills," she finished with a mischievous smirk.

"Yeah, actually, I'm gonna say again how really sorry I am for that," Tori winced slightly, smiling. "If you didn't have a coffee already, I might've bought you another one right now."

'What are you doing?!' a voice screamed inside Tori's head. 'You practically asked her out!'

Jade simply widened her smirk, cocking her head to the side and studying the tan brunette. Tori fought the urge to shiver under her penetrating icy gaze.

"You could do that, actually," Jade drawled out, dropping her voice a few octaves lower to a husky level. _Now _Tori shivered. "I got this coffee from the weird man in a truck, and I don't think he made it the way I _like_ it." The word 'like' rolled off of her tongue sensually, and Tori found her gaze transfixed on those full lips. "Would you mind sipping it and telling me what it tastes like?"

Tori took the cup from Jade, slightly raising her eyebrows.

"It's not a trick or anything, right?" She asked warily, holding up the cup. "Like, you decided to pay me back for earlier and found this in a trash?"

Jade let out a hearty laugh at that, and Tori hesitatingly smiled back.

"Don't worry, _Tori,_" there it was again, the sensual drawl that chose her name to show itself, "if I decide to have my revenge, I will come up with something _a lot _more devious."

The youngest Gilbert looked at the coffee cup she held in her hand. "Alright, but if…" she trailed off when she noticed she stood alone, Jade nowhere to be seen. Weird.

Actually, the whole exchange was weird. What was that about? First Jade was all 'grrr', throwing cold glares at her and demanding she doesn't come near her, and then she just came up to her all seductive-like, caressing her hearing with her silky voice and hidden meanings behind words.

Tori thought about it for a moment and then just shrugged. At least she got a coffee out of it.

* * *

Most people think that the disappearing in the public place is nearly impossible, but that's a common misconception. I didn't even need to reinforce my vampire speed to do that. All you really needed was some strategically placed props in the setting and stealthy skills. Luckily, I got both, so now I was standing behind some trees with Stefan, waiting for Tori to sip the coffee with wolfs bane in it.

What, you actually thought I was just being nice to her?

Of course not. You know what's up.

"I don't think she bought it," Stefan said quietly, watching Tori with narrowed eyes. "And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. Seriously, 'sip that coffee and tell me what it tastes like'?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Who needs to make sense when they got these?" I pointed to my chest. Stefan looked down before realizing just exactly whom he was checking out and spluttering all over himself. I would've laughed if we weren't on a very important mission.

"Wha… you think she likes you that way?" Apparently Stefan wasn't going to drop that.

"Oh, '_you think she likes you that way'_, what are you, five?" I hissed back at him, my eyes trained on Tori. "As a matter of fact, yes, our little she-wolf creams her panties every time I come near her, now _shut up_ before I make you." I heard Stefan grumbling something inaudible, but I couldn't care less because at that moment Tori raised the cup to her lips.

"C'mon, good little wolf," I whispered, waiting for her to take a sip. "Just a sip… Atta girl…"

The cup almost made it to her mouth before she stopped and instead sniffed the drink suspiciously.

I clenched my jaw. She recognized the smell of aconite. That meant she also knew I knew about her, and the blood was going to be shed tonight.

Stefan also tensed next to me, stopping his pouting. "She smelt something," he announced gravely, the disappointment clear in his voice.

While he was disappointed for whatever reason, I was simply angry. I did not need wolves around here, and taking into account the fact that they always came in packs, there were more than a dozen to worry about. And worry was completely called for. A werewolf's bite was fatal to a vampire. I've seen my fair share of vamps who encountered a wolf and got bitten. I've witnessed them slowly and painfully fading in and out of sanity, rotting alive for days before finally someone put them out of their misery. Great, just fucking what I needed.

I was torn out of my gloom-and-doom fest as Stefan tugged on my arm excitedly. "Look!"

Tori sniffed a coffee a bit more and then, shrugging, took a big gulp.

Stefan and I looked with a nervous anticipation, waiting for her throat to start burning up and for her to fall to the ground, but neither of these things happened.

Tori grimaced a bit, and I strained my vampire hearing to catch what she was about to say.

"_Ugh, this coffee has gone bad. I _knew _she got it from the trash,_" the tan brunette grumbled to herself, looking at the cup with disgust.

She wasn't a werewolf. Stefan let out a small sigh, and I realized I also released a breath of relief. Werewolves were bad news, and the less of them were around, the better.

Although something told me that this wasn't the only thing Stefan was relieved about. Could he actually like this girl? That would explain his interest about Tori's feelings for me earlier. I tensed up without noticing it, ready to question him when a new face appeared in the picture.

"_There you are, babe,_" A raspy voice said near Tori. "_I've been looking all over for you._"

I watched the exchange, entertained. Interesting. So the princess had a boyfriend, which still didn't stop her from drooling all over other girls.

Ah, I just loved to watch some teenage drama.

Although the completely terrified look she was giving him suggested that probably their relationship wasn't going so great.

"_Uh, hey, Beck,_" Tori managed weakly, her face growing slightly pink from what I could see.

"Hey, do you know who thi…" Stefan addressed me in a hushed tone, but I just shushed him. It just got interesting.

"_Wow, that's it? That's all I'm getting after the last night?_" The guy whose name was apparently Beck asked her with a smirk, trying to look all predatory. I cringed. It really wasn't working out in his favor.

"_Nothing _happened _last night,_" Tori hissed, abandoning her scared expression and morphing into an angry tigress. That was kinda hot, I thought to myself with a shrug to my shoulders. However, now I was interested in what exactly went down between those two tonight. I glanced to Stefan to find him just as engrossed in the scene. Man, it was like watching TV. Teenagers and their hormones.

"_Now, now, Gilbert,_" The guy was seriously starting to annoy me with his suave bad boy act. Even his gorgeous hair didn't justify the jerk personality he was quickly revealing. "_I think I'll save you some embarrassment. You really wanted it last night, but I didn't give in. Now you're upset, and I get it, I _really _do,"_ he put on a fake sympathetic face, placing his hands on Tori's shoulders which she shrugged off, fuming. "_But it's not gonna work out, baby,_" he pinched her cheek and I rolled my eyes. Seriously? "_I don't go after sluts-pretending-to-be-prudes, sorry._"

"_What?!_" The screech that Gilbert let out was enough to draw some more unwanted attention to the scene, and there already were half the cafeteria watching them curiously. Stefan moved to help her out, but my hand on his shoulder stopped him. I really wanted to watch how exactly Gilbert was going to get out of it. "_I am not a _slut, _and if anything, it was you throwing yourself at me!_" She got a bit closer to him, stabbing his chest with her finger. "_I pushed you off when you tried to take advantage of me!_"

Wow, Tori sure fired up fast. I assumed it was probably the Latina in her. If she even had something Hispanic in her blood, that is.

"She's making a scene," Stefan remarked, mirroring my stance of crossed arms.

"I say let her," I smirked. "Something tells me the girl has a giant stick up her ass, and it's time something happened to make her take it out."

Meanwhile, Beck the Dick raised his arms in surrender, chuckling at the angry Tori.

"_Sure, whatever you say,_" he then took the coffee from her, raising his eyebrow. "_But please try to restrain yourself next time and don't come crawling to me, begging to take you back,_" he smirked at Tori victoriously before raising a cup in a mocking toast and taking a huge gulp from it, winking at Gilbert girl.

And then, I narrowed my eyes, feeling my fangs come out and dark veins protruding under my blood-filled eyes. Stefan beside me took a sharp unneeded breath, no doubt also vamping out.

Beck coughed violently, grasping at his throat and slumping to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his skin around mouth visibly reddened and burnt, veins becoming visible on his throat. So _that _was who I smelled in the Sikowitz classroom.

"Hello there, wolf boy," I griped through my teeth. "Looks like I'm still snapping someone's neck today."

* * *

"Wait, Jade," Stefan caught my arm as I headed to a groaning Beck. "What are you gonna do, kill him in the plain sight for everyone to see?"

I slowed down, gritting my teeth together. He was right, of course he was right. I just got crazy around wolves. I hated them with a burning passion.

They were the whole reason my family was a mess.

"Okay," I took a calming breath. "You're right."

"It's not only that, Jade." Stefan looked at me with his serious dark-green eyes. "Did you see his eyes when he gulped down the aconite?"

"Maybe, yeah, I don't know," I ripped my arm from his grip. "What are you getting at, Salvatore?"

"You _know_ what I'm getting at, West. His eyes _didn't _change to those of a wolf when he got burnt by the aconite," he paused, watching as his words sank in. "He's not a changed wolf yet, which means he didn't activate the curse. He might be just as unaware of his werewolf nature as we were a couple of moments ago."

"_Or, _he could be a part of a pack where they wait for the full age before activating it," I pointed out, still hell-bent on killing the boy. Something about this Beck guy really rubbed me the wrong way.

"Maybe," Stefan agreed, watching my face. "But that still doesn't change the most important thing here."

"_What _thing?" I grounded through my teeth. I hated it when he got all cryptic and shit.

"He's _human._"

See? Told you. Sounding all hero and meaningful as fuck. And also being annoyingly right as usual.

"Fine," I sighed. "But we need to watch him closely, or he's…" I turned around to look at the scene again, and then I stood still, not believing my eyes.

While Beck was moaning in agony and Tori stood there, horrified, the scene gathered quite a crowd. However, what made me go into shock was a brunette girl who fought her way through the crowd and grabbed Tori's elbow, trying to drag her away.

Because I knew that girl a thousand of years ago when I was still human.

Tatia was standing right in front of me, not changed a bit since the last moment I saw her, hugging Tori as a school nurse helped Beck up and lead him away into the building. Tatia, the one who was sought after by two of my brothers, ultimately rejecting them both for the sake of the family bond. Tatia, a girl whose blood was used to create Original vampires, namely me and my siblings.

Tatia, the girl who was supposed to be long dead, was comforting Tori, asking her what happened. Now that they were standing together, I could see the striking similarities of the two, and I cursed myself for not realizing that sooner.

"Tatia," I whispered as I watched such a familiar face from many lifetimes ago. "It's simply impossible…"

I turned to Stefan, expecting him to be looking at me confusedly. But what I didn't expect was for him to be just as dumbstruck as I was, watching the same girl with disbelieving eyes.

"Katherine…" he sighed out, transfixed.

My eyes widened almost comically at that.

"Wait, _that's _Katherine? _The _Katherine? The one that turned you and Damon into vampires?"

He nodded, his eyes still on the mysterious girl. I looked back at her, flooded with memories of my childhood, seeing her in a long dress, with a different hairstyle, helping me carve my name on a tree. I shook my head free of memories.

"How in the hell is that possible? And _why_ I'm only now finding out that Katherine fucking Pierce looks exactly like a girl from my human past?" I snapped at Stefan, frustrated. This didn't make any sense. Nothing made sense since this morning.

"I got no idea, and as for you not knowing, you were the one who demanded we burn anything Katherine-related in order to rebuild our brotherly bond," Stefan snapped back at me, just as frustrated. I really couldn't blame him. Katherine Pierce royally fucked up him and his brother, leaving a huge mess before she died. But no matter how much of a bitch she was, it still didn't explain _anything._

That girl sitting with Tori on the bench couldn't be Tatia. Tatia died in a blood sacrifice my parents performed to turn us into vampires. So that meant Katherine was single-white-femaling a high-school girl.

Or…

"Stefan, listen for her heartbeat," I ordered quickly without explaining. We strained our ears, concentrating on the little group that gathered around the table. As Beck was led away to the nurse's room, pretty much the whole crowd went into the school building. The only people left were Tori's friends, as I assumed. Alright. The blonde cheerleader, the dark-skinned girl and the equally dark-skinned guy, the perky redhead, the curly-haired awkward boy, the moody-looking muscular guy, Tori and the Tatia-Katherine look-a-like. Eight people. I listened closely.

Eight people and eight heartbeats.

_She was human._

I slowly turned my head to the side, making eye-contact with Stefan, his confused frown mirroring mine.

Damon had a lot to hear about when we got home, that was for sure.

* * *

"Where the hell is he?"

I was pacing, irritated, as Stefan dialed Damon's phone only to be greeted with voicemail again.

"Damn it, brother," Stefan muttered, redialing. "Now is not the time to be the disappearing mystery guy."

"It's no use, Stefan," I sighed, running my hand through my jet-black locks. "We need to find another way. It's already dark outside. Where he could've gone?"

Stefan looked thoughtful for a moment before a light bulb went over his head.

"There's a bonfire party tonight in the woods," he grabbed his jacket from a couch, throwing it on impatiently. "He's probably there, hunting."

"Goddamit," I growled as I sped to my Impala with Stefan hot on my heels. "How the hell did we get into this mess?"

Stefan turned out to be right. We found Damon wandering in the woods, far enough from the party so the normal human hearing couldn't pick up on any noise from the bonfire gathering.

"Oh hell no," Damon stared at us after we told him everything. "So you're saying there's a possibility of werewolf pack around, _and _a human Katherine-slash-who's that chick you've been hanging with when you were human," he pointed at me, "goes to school with you?"

We nodded at him. "Oh, and don't forget the part where another girl cannot be compelled despite her being an ordinary human," I added.

"Damn," he smirked, shaking his head. "Whatever it is you're having, make it a double for me."

I growled and flashed at him with a vampire speed, holding him against a tree by his throat, his feet dangling a few inches above the ground.

"Do I look like a person who's fucking around?" I bit at him.

"Jade," Stefan called out, and I dropped Damon, taking a step away. The older Salvatore just rolled his eyes at me, straightening up. He was used to my temper by now. He did take after me in this department, after all.

"Alright. Let's say hypothetically I believe you two psychos," he dusted off his leather jacket. "That's just one more reason to _haul ass_, I say."

"We can't leave," Stefan said quietly, his eyes on the ground. "Whatever it is that's going on, it has to be dealt with."

"Oh really, Stefan," Damon advanced on him dangerously, and I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what was about to happen. "So let's be clear here, brother. You want to stay so you can deal with all that mysterious freaky crap, or you want to stay so you can reunite with your _long-lost love_?" He bit out the last part bitterly, his fierce icy glare trained on Stefan's face.

Oh boy, here we go again.

Katherine Pierce aka Katerina Petrova, the crack in the granite that was Salvatore brothers.

She came in like a hurricane, toying with both brothers, making them both fall in love with her like a couple of fools. They were her own breathing, walking blood bags and sex toys, and I was willing to bet everything I own that she would've killed them both in a sick and twisted way when she got bored with them. She simply didn't make it to the point of boredom, though. Their father, Giuseppe Salvatore, found out who she was before it was too late, and she, along with other vampires she brought into Salvatores' hometown, was set to be locked up under the city church's tomb.

Except there was a slight hitch. Salvatore brothers, being compelled and in love, tried to save her and were shot by their own father. And because Katherine was a sick demented bitch, they both drank her blood prior to the incident, so when they died with a vampire's blood in their system, they went into a transition. After that, as they woke up, Katherine's slave witch, a woman named Emily, explained the situation to them. Either they drank human's blood and finished the transition, fully turning into bloodsuckers, or they lived their last twenty four hours as humans and died.

Damon didn't want to turn without Katherine, because, according to Emily, she died in a fire that started in a church. Steran… well, Stefan didn't want to, either. He went to see his father one last time before he died, but some shit went down, and he ended up drinking his father dry and then forcing Damon to become a vampire as well. And that was how the century-long sibling war began before I found them and made them took their head out of their ass.

And now, half a century later, one appearance from Katherine Pierce was all it took for them to start fighting again.

I observed them, the way they faced off against each other. Damon stood angrily, burying his eyes into Stefan's, who was glaring back, hands clenched into fists. The jealousy, anger, pent up tension was palpable in the air, hanging like a curtain around them. And I thought we were past that.

Well, I was about fed up with their family drama.

"That's enough!" I barked at them, drawing their attention. "Stefan is right about one thing. It needs to be dealt with. When there are identical girls, with the first one of them used in the most horrifying spell in the human history, shit's probably about to get real." As Stefan perked up, smugly smirking at Damon, I continued, effectively wiping the smirk from his face: "Damon's also right about another thing, which he didn't say, but vividly implied. Both of you _will not _under any circumstances get involved with the girl." Damon was about to say something, but I interrupted. "It's not healthy and borderline maniac to be _that _fixated on your ex."

"I'm not planning on doing _anything _with the girl, or everything else, for that matter," the blue-eyed Salvatore scoffed at me. "I say we get the fuck out of here before we get dragged into some supernatural shit."

"You are aware you're a vampire, aren't you?" Stefan asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're pretty much neck deep in the supernatural shit."

"Don't get smart with me, Stefan," he growled back at his younger brother. "We all know the reason you're so eager to stay behind, but," Damon glanced at me, his expression serious. "If there are wolves involved, we need to move from here, and the sooner, the better."

"Are you seriously going to run from a bunch of dogs?"

"Are you seriously trying to challenge me?"

"Well, since you're being such a little boy about things, I thought I could switch to juvenile tactics."

"Look who's talking, Mr. Hero-Hair…"

"Shut the hell up!" My voice rose angrily as I narrowed my eyes at the Salvatore boys. "You're giving me a headache, freaks."

"Not possible," Damon smirked. "You're kinda a bit dead for that, sweetheart."

"I will rip your heart out," I growled at him.

"Oh, and I'm sure it's going to be an unforgettable experience for both of us, and we will for sure get to it when we're on the road," he moved in the direction of our house, but I sped past him and blocked his way. "Oh for fuck's sakes, what is wrong with you two?! Well, him," he nodded at Stefan who looked mildly insulted, "I know what's up with him, but _you, _Jade. You know this whole thing reeks of something royally fucked up. Werewolves, the return of evil bitch from hell? Ringing any bells?" He got close to me, staring me down. "We need to get out before it gets worse. And you _know _I'm right."

I just stared back at him, contemplating my next move. Both of them were right, and for the first time in my life, I was at loss.

"I… Fine," I let out, sagging my shoulders. "Let's just…"

A bloodcurdling female scream interrupted me, and our heads snapped in the direction of it. The bonfire.

"Oh, great," Damon muttered, straining his ears. "Sounds like the bonfire became an all-you-can-eat buffet."

I closed my eyes, concentrating. Fangs ripping into the human flesh. Blood pouring out, skin being torn apart. Damon was right.

"I guess we're not the only vampires in town," I muttered darkly. Suddenly, another cry was heard from the opposite direction of the bonfire. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course. Who else would it be if not Tori Gilbert?

"Alright," I barked out orders. "Damon, you check the girl in the woods. I deal with the party situation. Stefan…" I trailed off, looking at the younger Salvatore.

He was fully vamped out and shivering, hugging himself. His gaze was wild and lost at the same time as he struggled with his vampire inside.

"B-blood… There's too much of it," he looked up at me, and I felt my dead heart clench inside my chest. "Jade, I can't t-take it. I-I can't, I just can't."

Damon stopped, looking at his brother hesitatingly, taking a small step toward him. No. It could wait.

"Get to the girl now!" I snapped at him, and he nodded, speeding to Tori. "Stefan," I tried gently. He looked up at me, and I smiled tensely. "Stefan, I need you to get back to the house. I need you to stay strong, and I need you to speed as fast as you can, okay?" He nodded, gathering himself together before retreating his fangs with a visible fight. "Now, Stefan, please," I pleaded, one ear listening for what was happening at the bonfire. I didn't have a lot of time left. Stefan turned and without another word sped towards the house.

I turned and also sped in an opposite direction. The only thought in my mind was how the _fuck _did the situation come to this mess?

* * *

Tori took a swig from her bottle of Coke, sighing. After what happened today at the cafeteria, she really didn't feel like partying, but Elena sweet-talked her into going. She looked around, observing dancing people, the dark trees and shadows created by bonfire. 'This place is kinda creepy', she thought to herself, shivering a bit from the cold night air. 'Whoever decided that this should be the place for the signature Hollywood Arts bonfire party seriously watched too much Twilight.'

She glanced up to see Elena make her way back to her, triumphantly holding up two red cups with beer.

Tori arched her eyebrow at that. "Are you channeling your inner Caroline?"

Elena just laughed, thrusting one cup into Tori's hands and taking a sip from another one. "It's just a beer, Tori. And no, I'm not taking a page out of Caroline's book," she wiggled her eyebrows at the youngest Gilbert. "I'm much more fun."

Tori smiled, also taking a sip. Maybe that was what she needed. Alcohol usually solved other people's problems which, by the way, were far bigger than hers. It couldn't hurt to try, right?

"Whatcha thinking about?" Elena nudged Tori, and at that exact moment a group of drunk seniors walked by, bumping into sisters and laughing loudly about something. The taller brunette cringed at the beer on her sleeve. "How about we take a walk in the woods? Here's not exactly the best place to have sisterly heart-to-heart moment."

"Wait, who said I wanted to have one?" Tori questioned out loud, trying and failing to fight as Elena practically dragged her deeper into the woods and away from a bonfire party.

"C'mon, Tori," Elena said as they walked in silence for a couple of minutes, the bonfire growing smaller with each step they took. "Something's been bothering you lately. I just want you to open up to your favorite big sister."

"You're my _only _big sister," Tori pointed out, taking another sip. Ugh, how did people drink that stuff? She would've taken Coke any day over this.

"Details, details," Elena brushed her statement aside, scrunching up her nose. "So what exactly happened today at the cafeteria?"

Tori just groaned. "I have no idea. He took my coffee, drank from it, and suddenly went into anaphylactic shock." She observed her cup, taking another sip. Hmm, that stuff wasn't so bad, actually. "Although I got no idea what caused this reaction. I mean, the milk in the coffee might've gone a bit bad, but otherwise…" She trailed off, thinking for the hundredth time that day if Jade was aiming to poison her instead of Beck and she was just lucky enough to somehow be immune to that poison. She did find the smell of the drink kinda weird…

"Zoning out on me again," Elena said from her side, studying her profile.

Tori snapped back to reality, shaking her head a bit. If anything, she fire sure was not going to tell about her encounter with Jade to Elena. Her sister probably would call the cops. Or play the big sister role and threaten the new girl.

Tori wasn't sure that would go so great. She had this uneasy feeling about Jade. Something told her she was not to be messed with.

"I'm fine, really," at Elena's disbelieving look, she tried again. "Well, not really, but… Beck deserved it. And the whole trash-talk thing he was doing earlier, well, no one's going to believe him anyway. It's his word against mine, so I'll live."

"I know that's not what's been bothering you," Elena said quietly.

"Then enlighten me, oh the wise one," Tori stated mockingly, taking another swig from her up. No, not bad at all. The taste kinda grows on you after a bit.

"Something Caroline said today got me thinking," the older Gilbert sister sat down on a fallen tree, and Tori followed suit. "About you filling out my shoes…?"

"Oh, God," Tori let out a little laugh. "That's just Care being her a little obnoxious but totally lovable self, 'Lena."

"But you still feel that way," Elena insisted, watching Tori with her almond-shaped eyes. "I can sense it. Lately, you've been distancing yourself away from me. Closing off, like, putting this brick wall between us. And that stunt you pulled yesterday with sneaking out…"

"So that's what it's all about? Me not listening to you?" Tori got up, getting angry, and Elena followed, narrowing her eyes at her. "Well guess what, Elena – you're not Mom, so stop acting like it!"

"You think I'm being a Mom?!" Elena also grew agitated, before catching herself and taking a deep breath. "No, wait – see? You're pushing me away, hiding behind anger. Tori," she got closer to the younger brunette, laying a comforting hand on her arm. "I just… I'm here, okay? I'm always here to listen to you, and I don't care what you want to talk about, be it boys or committing a murder, I'm just _here._"

Tori took a step back, running her hand through her chestnut locks.

"Well Caroline was right, okay?" She sighed, frustrated, before facing her older sister. "I _am _feeling like I have to live up to you."

Elena nodded in sad understanding. "How long have you been feeling like this?" She quietly asked, nervously playing with a lock of her hair.

She wasn't going to like the answer Tori was going to give her.

"Since I joined Hollywood Arts," she quickly got out.

Elena gasped.

"What?! For a whole _year_?!"

"Yes, for a whole year! And if I'm being honest, it might've started a bit earlier than that!" Tori felt that she was being totally unfair to Elena, but half a cup of beer she consumed made her not care. God, turned out she was such a lightweight. "You're _perfect, _Elena. You're beautiful, and talented, and kind and supportive, and you're always so elegant and not awkward at all and just _flawless_. And here I am, being generally clumsy and ungraceful and insecure as usual, and everybody expects me to shine as bright as you!" Tori took a deep breath before continuing. "And I tried to make it shine, I _really _did, but what if I'm just not good enough? What if I'll never be as perfect as you are?"

"Alright, you know what, that's enough," Elena exploded, and Tori just stood there, her mouth agape. She had never seen Elena lose her cool like that. "I am _not _perfect, Tori. The appearance and talent is not everything there is to a person!" She came close to Tori, her eyes narrowed and her breathing erratic. "And what makes you think I _like _what people think of me, huh? Sweet innocent Elena, always helping everyone around. Oh, she's so nice and kind, let's all take advantage of her. You think that's fair?" She paused, trying to calm herself down, and Tori saw her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I _have _to be this way, Tori. For you and for Jeremy, and for Mom and Dad. You know what they are going through right now, what all of us are going through right now."

Tori felt guilt slam into her at full force. She was so selfish to think all of this. Elena had her battles to fight, and instead of helping her and standing by her side, there she was, whining about something that wasn't even there.

"Look," she brought her attention back to Elena who spoke up again. "I know how you're feeling. It's completely normal to feel that way. I mean, it's not good, but it's understandable." She sighed, wiping her eyes discretely, and Tori did the same. "I just want you to know that in our family, _no one _is waiting for you to become the next Elena Gilbert. Because you're Tori, and you're a whole other human being, and that's all we will ever want from you." She shakily smiled at her, and the younger brunette returned it. "And all those people at school who wait for you to be like me and screw up. Well, _fuck them._"

Tori gasped and almost dropped her cup.

"Holy chiz, you just said the f-word!"

Elena giggled at that, taking a huge swig from her cup. "That I did. And you know what? I felt _pretty _damn good about it."

Tori stared at her. Then, they both cracked up, laughing uncontrollably.

"Tell you what, let's make a deal," Tori managed to say in-between laughs. "You can swear and generally let loose in front of me anytime, and I get to screw up in front of you.

"Deal," Elena raised her cup, indicating Tori should do the same. "To the imperfection!"

"To the imperfection," Tori echoed, smiling.

They sat in silence for a while, waiting for a chaos of emotions they just experienced to calm down.

"I never realized you felt that way," Tori suddenly said, breaking the silence. "About your whole image, I mean."

"Well," Elena got up and stretched a bit before starting a slow walk, Tori following her. "I just… I don't know. I feel like there's more to life than being a good girl and obeying the rules all the time."

"Are you saying you want to be 'Girl Gone Wild'?" Tori asked tongue-in-cheek.

"No, of course not," Elena waived her arms at her, dismissing the question as silly.

"Well, what is it that you want, 'Lena?"

"I…" Elena trailed off, looking in the distance. Tori studied her profile. Elena looked serious and thoughtful, carefully choosing her next words.

"I want… a love that consumes me. I want passion, and adventure, and _even_ a little danger." She smiled, shaking herself out of a strange trance, and Tori let out a shaky breath, shocked at the intensity of her sister's words. The phrase itself was ordinary, maybe a bit beautiful, but the way she said it… With such longing in her voice. At that moment, Tori realized they weren't similar in just their looks, because that was the exact thing she wanted for herself.

A pair of deep crystal blue eyes popped up in her head, uninvited, and she frowned. What did Jade Salvatore have to do with it?

She realized Elena started talking again, so she hurriedly tuned in.

"…But, I'm _Elena Gilbert_. I will finish high school with 3.5 GPA, I will enter UCLA, probably and hopefully with a scholarship, I will meet my future sweet and nice husband there, and I probably will end up at home taking care of our sweet and nice children," she chuckled bitterly at that, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. "Which, taking into account everything that happens in the world, is a pretty awesome outcome, so I shouldn't be talking about it like it's the worst nightmare ever, huh?"

"No, you shouldn't," Tori found her voice. Elena whipped her head around to look at her face, as if she'd forgotten she wasn't alone. "Because it sounds nice and completely normal. And you know what?" She waited for a nod from Elena, urging her to continue. "Nice and normal is the _most _boring thing that can ever happen to someone. And I am making it my mission to save you from it."

Elena laughed at that, before stopping and turning to face her fully.

"We have ourselves a deal, sis. But you…"

She didn't get a chance to finish because at that moment a dark figure with a hood covering their head grabbed her from the side, pinning her to the nearest tree.

Tori reacted before realizing what was happening, jumping on the figure's back and digging her fingers in their eyes. Their dad, who was a cop, spent an enormous amount of time showing the self-defense tips, and now Tori was ready to use them

Only it didn't work out exactly. Next thing she knew, she was being thrown away from the figure, hitting a tree with her back and sliding painfully down its length.

The figure turned around. As Tori focused her eyes, she could see it was a man; however, his face was hidden by the hood of his jacket. He started his way to her, but Elena chose that moment to throw herself at his legs, tackling him to the ground.

"Tori, run! Get help!" Elena managed to say before the terrifying stranger got up to his feet with an incredibly fast speed – Tori could swear he blurred with the way he moved – and picked Elena up, throwing her at the fallen tree. Elena slammed into it with her full body, face first, and in the sudden silence Tori heard a sickening sound of something cutting through skin.

Tori felt her eyes widen as Elena slowly turned around, her hands holding a huge tree branch sticking out of her stomach.

No, Tori found herself thinking. No, no, no.

Elena slumped to her knees, her eyes finding Tori's before she hit the ground with her back, a stick protruding from her midsection like in a cheap horror movie.

Tori stumbled to her legs, rushing to Elena and landing hard on her knees beside her. She didn't notice the man being long gone as she stared at her sister's pale face, terrified.

Tori heard a scream from somewhere, and it took her a couple of seconds to realize that it was her screaming out.

"No, no, no," she muttered, her hands grabbing the stick, then going to the wound, then touching Elena's neck, looking for a pulse. "It can't be happening, it can't be happening, God, please, no!" She was crying out again, tears streaming down her face.

"Stand back!"

A man's strong voice shook her from her hysteria, and she glanced back with fear, only now remembering about the man responsible for this. However, the voice belonged to another guy. He stood tall at approximately 6'0, clad in leather jacket, dark jeans and biker boots, his icy gaze studying the situation before him.

The stranger rushed to her, getting to his knees and taking off his jacket, briefly glancing at Tori before tending to Elena, gently lifting up her head.

"I went to a med school," he got out before he placed his jacket under Elena's head. "Look," he turned to Tori, his blue eyes pale in the moonlight. "I need you to find me water, at least a cup, right now. Can you do that for me?"

Tori nodded and scrambled to her feet. There was a small river near them, and she grabbed a red cup, running to it at a full speed. As she got back, she saw the stranger seemingly wipe Elena's mouth with his wrist; a stick that stabbed her sister was lying near them.

The blue-eyed man snapped his head up suddenly, immediately finding Tori's eyes.

"I uh, I got water," she stuttered, holding out a cup.

The stranger took the cup and wetted a piece of cloth, gently wiping the blood around the wound which strangely seemed to be closing already, his eyes trained on Elena's face. He reached out with his hand and softly brushed a lock of hair away from the older Gilbert's face, stroking her cheek with his finger, seemingly caught in a trance.

"Is she going to be okay?" Tori asked in a small voice, bringing the stranger out of whatever moment he was having with her sister. He shook his head slightly, messing up his already messy-in-a-sexy-way jet black hair even more.

"Yeah, but we need to get her to the hospital," he placed his arms under Elena's knees and shoulders, effortlessly lifting her unconscious sister. "I have a car near. C'mon," he took off, taking long strides, his gaze never leaving her sister's face and him not once stumbling over anything in the woods.

Tori practically ran after him, glancing at her sister's lifeless form with unshed tears.

God, let her be okay.

* * *

Tori sat in a plastic chair in the hospital's hallway, staring at her hands.

She thought back to when she scrubbed them in a hospital bathroom after Elena was wheeled into the surgery to check if any vital organs had been injured.

She scrubbed at them, her mind empty, as the water came out blood-red at first and faintly pink later.

Her hands were completely covered with her sister's blood, rich dark maroon color making her sick.

Her sister's blood. Her blood. Their shared DNA, washed away with the tap water and cheap hospital soap.

She put her head in the said hands, not wanting to think about anything and simply praying Elena made it out okay.

"She's gonna be okay," a cool, strong voice said from her left, and she looked up to find the stranger from the woods leaning against the wall, watching her. "I checked her wound. Worst case scenario: she gets stiches that are gonna itch like a bitch after a couple of days."

Tori smiled faintly at that, clearing her throat. "I can't thank you enough for saving my sister's life," she said sincerely, looking him in the eyes. "If it wasn't for you…"

"Meh, don't sweat it," he shrugged, coming to sit near her. "The Hippocratic Oath's a bitch," he winked at her before staring off into space.

Tori studied his profile. A strong, masculine jawline, a two-day stubble covering his handsome face. He really was handsome – actually, the man looked sinfully beautiful, like he was straight from a Men's Health journal. His cheekbones put hers to shame, and his crystal clear blue eyes were adorned by thick eyelashes, as jet-black as his hair. His complexion was strong and elegant at the same time, and with his jacket off, his muscles rippled under the black button-up shirt.

He turned his head to her, and Tori looked into his eyes. They seemed so familiar… No. No way.

They practically had same eyes.

"What was your name, again?" Tori asked carefully.

"Oh, I didn't give you one," The beautiful stranger picked himself up gracefully from a chair, smirking at Tori. He tugged on his black leather jacket, and then stood still, debating something. Finally, he sighed and turned back to her. "It's Damon. What's your name?"

"I'm Victoria Gilbert, and my sister is Elena Gilbert." Tori answered, intrigued by Damon. His first name did nothing to calm her suspicions, though.

Damon smirked lightly and came back to Tori, gently taking her hand in his much larger one. "Damon Salvatore," he pressed a soft kiss at her knuckles, staring at her mischievously, "at your service, Miss Victoria Gilbert." He straightened up, turning around again and heading to the exit. "Tell you sister to get well soon," he called back to her, disappearing behind the doors.

Tori just sat there, gaping. She knew it!

A pair of eyes so identical could be shared only by siblings. It looked like hotness ran in the family.

Whoa. She could not be thinking that, while her sister was in a surgery and she was… straight, for God's sakes.

Tori sighed. That whole straight thing might just be her fooling herself. After all, she was just presented with the most beautiful male creature God sent to this Earth, and all she could think about was how he turned out to be related to a certain blue-eyed girl.

"Tori! Here you are! What happened?!" A frantic Jeremy burst through the doors, a timid Cat hot on his heels.

"I… Elena is in the surgery right now," at the alarmed expression on Jeremy's face, she rushed to calm him down. "Nothing serious, she's just getting stiches."

Jeremy let out a huge relieved breath before slumping in the chair next to Tori.

"Wait, how did you find out I was at the hospital, again?" The younger Gilbert asked, confused.

"I didn't," Jeremy replied, staring at the wall before him. "Not in a normal sense of the word, at least." He nodded at Cat. "She practically dragged me here."

"Okay…." Tori slowly said. "Cat, did you see something at the party?"

"I wasn't there," Cat replied quietly in a small voice, her worried eyes on Tori's face. Tori found it really unnerving to see Cat so serious-looking. "I was at home, Jeremy helped me with the art project. But I saw everything, and we drove here."

"What do you mean, 'you saw everything'?" Tori asked, even more confused than before.

"Don't bother," Jeremy said tiredly. "I tried to get it out of her, but she just cried and tugged on my arm to get me to drive here. As soon as she touched me, I had this… uneasy feeling, like something bad happened, and it only escalated higher and higher while I drove here." He rubbed his face, looking exhausted. "What the hell happened, Tori?"

"Oh, gummy bears!" Cat was seemingly getting more like her old self by the second, skipping away to the vending machines. Tori shook her head. This had to be the weirdest day of her young life.

"Okay, well. We were at the party in the woods…"

* * *

I walked into the house, carefully checking my surroundings.

"Stefan?" I called out warily.

"In here," he called back from the living room.

I flashed to him, finding him sipping at the blood from a glass, watching the fireplace.

"Hey," I said softly, coming to sit on an armrest. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he glanced at me, giving me a quick smile. "It was just too much at once, and I couldn't get a grip. I got myself under control as soon as I got away from the smell."

I nodded at that, relocating myself to another chair and sprawling in it, letting out a tired sigh.

"What about you?" Stefan asked, sipping the blood. I watched as he closed his eyes briefly at the taste of blood, reveling in it before snapping back to reality.

He had a huge problem with blood. Basically, he was a heroine junkie, and instead of heroine he had blood. Damon and me had been trying to build his tolerance for it, but so far we only managed to get him to drink the blood from blood bags. He still wasn't fit to drink from humans, and I had a feeling it was a long road before he even got close to that.

"Meh," I shrugged, staring at the way fire ate up wood, cracking and bursting. "Four newbie vamps. Ripped out their hearts and compelled everyone to forget it ever happened. The corpses are somewhere in the woods." I glanced at the clock. It's been almost an hour since we split up in the forest. "Is Damon home?"

"Yes I am, mother," the devil spoke from the main entrance, only now getting back from the rescue mission. "Now, I know we have a curfew, but I feel I have a right to stay out for as long as I want!" He overdramatically stated, grabbing a bottle of scotch and landing gracefully on the couch.

"What happened?" I asked impatiently.

"Oh, I met Miss Katherine-wannabe in person," he smirked at us, but by the way his hands shook ever so slightly and gripped the bottle a bit too tightly, I could tell he was shaken up about it. "Although she was this close to becoming as dead as Katherine," he quipped, gulping down the scotch.

"She okay now?" Stefan lazily asked from his sit, taking the bottle from Damon and spiking the blood.

"Yup. Well, she was almost a goner, but I gave her my blood. She should be okay, as long as she doesn't decide to kill herself in the next twenty four hours. Oh, and by the way," he glanced at me, "I also met her sister, Victoria Gilbert. The little thing was really shook up from all the crap that's happened."

"So what exactly happened to this Katherine/Tatia girl?" I inquired.

"I don't know much, but when I got there, she had a huge ass stick protruding from her midsection, and she almost bled out on the spot," Damon took a big gulp from the bottle, coughing a bit. "And her name is Elena Gilbert."

We sat in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. This day had been crazy so far.

"So," I broke the silence, staring into the fireplace.

"So," Damon echoed me, glancing at my face and then locking his gaze with Stefan.

"We are not the only one who noticed the pretty girl," I sum up. "It wasn't a coincidence. Something was supposed to happen this evening, and the Gilbert sisters are the key." I looked at Salvatore brothers, narrowing my eyes. "We didn't come here by chance. The fate, the nature, the God or whatever else brought us here at this exact moment, and each one of us has their own role in the game."

I stood up, coming to the window and gazing at the view of a night city.

"We're staying."

* * *

_Alright, so from now on, three to four chapters will add up to make one episode, hence the name "Revelations pt.2". There also will be part 3 of the Revelations. Don't know about pt. 4, though.  
__Please leave a review, telling me what you think! :)_  



	5. Best Served Cold

_This is sorta just a filler chapter to keep you updated and to give you more insight into characters' lives. Don't worry, stick with me and Jori goodness will soon appear. Things are about to get real heavy real soon._

_I am writing the continuation of this 'episode', so the update won't take long, and in the future I'll try to stick to weekly updates._

_Please do not forget to review! Feedback is important!_

* * *

"Morning, sleepyhead!"

Tori tried to add as much perkiness in her voice as possible, but the unusual paleness of her sister's face left a knot in her throat. She watched as the morning light streamed through the window, partly falling on a sleeping Elena.

It was Sunday, two days after the horrible night in the woods. Elena spent the night at the hospital, sleeping off the medication after getting stiches, and Tori stayed at her side despite the doctor's objections.

She couldn't leave her. Not after she almost lost her.

Now they were back home, away from the horrible hospital smell and doctors' questions. And they had _a lot_. The surgeons were amazed by the way the wound seemed to have partially closed almost instantly, and they almost went as far as running some tests on the oldest Gilbert sibling before Tori and Jeremy forcefully objected to that. However, Tori could understand them. What exactly did the older Salvatore do in the woods that brought her sister back from the brink of death? She found herself inevitably coming back to the thoughts about everything that went down that night, and she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off with the older Salvatore. How did he find them in the woods? What was he doing there himself? What did he do to Elena? How did he appear so suddenly and out of nowhere? While Tori was in the heat of the moment, she had no time questioning her sister's savior, but now that Elena was home safely, she couldn't help it. And that miraculous closing of the wound. Tori remembered that back in 8th grade, Elena scraped her knee, and it bled so much they called ambulance. After that the brunette limped for approximately two weeks. Something strange was going on, that was for sure.

Tori shook her head slightly. It didn't really matter. What did matter was Elena being safe and almost healed. Doctors gave her some gauze to apply to the wound, and the older brunette was scheduled to have the stiches removed in a week. Although, doctors remarked that with her 'amazing healing skills' she would probably be as good as new in a couple of days.

Elena stirred a bit in her sleep, which was a clear sign that the tan girl was waking up, and Tori placed a tray full of food on a bedside table, gently shaking older Gilbert's shoulder.

"'Lena," she tried softly. "C'mon, I made you pancakes, your favorite."

Elena shifted on her bed, turning her head to Tori and opening one narrowed eye at her. "Blueberry ones?" She questioned warily, her voice scratchy from sleep.

"Yup," Tori got the tray and passed it to Elena, sitting next to her. "And also toast, omelet, bacon and mango juice, although I have no idea how you can stomach this stuff."

"If liking healthy stuff is weird, then fine, I'm weird," Elena retorted lightly, grabbing a pancake and dipping it into syrup.

"Wow, and I thought you were the graceful one," Tori remarked as Elena hungrily devoured the pancake, holding it in her hand and chewing enthusiastically.

"Oh c'mon, those pancakes can turn _anyone _into a Neanderthal, well, at least table-manner speaking," the older Gilbert took a big gulp from her glass. "Good thing at least someone inherited Mom's cooking skills. And besides, didn't we make a pact in the woods? I get to let loose now, so brace yourself."

Tori's smile noticeably weakened as she was reminded of why exactly she decided to treat Elena to breakfast-in-bed. The woods. A scary man throwing Elena with an unbelievable force. Elena looking at Tori with confusion in her eyes. Tori's hands, covered in sticky, warm, glistening blood.

"Hey," Elena's soft voice brought her back to the moment. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Tori cleared her throat and looked into doe-like eyes which held such a close resemblance to her own. "I am, now that you're okay."

"I really do feel great," Elena chewed on a toast, her eyebrows knitted together. "Which is seriously freaking me out. I mean," she set her toast aside, taking her sister's glass of orange juice and ignoring Tori's pointed look. "I was _impaled _on a huge pointy stick. And all I feel now is a bit of itchiness."

"C'mon, Elena," Tori readjusted herself on the bed so she faced the taller brunette. "Let's not go over that again. The most important thing is you being here, _alive. _Can't we just… forget that night ever happened and move on?"

"Yeah well, Dad won't really allow us to move on," Elena mumbled, reaching for her toast again. "He's really set on finding whoever did this to us."

Tori sighed, thinking back to the way their father handled the news. Elena hadn't seen the moment their dad had at the hospital when she was sleeping, but Tori and Jeremy were there, and what happened was… bizarre. Not entirely unexpected, but surprising all the same, if that made sense. At first, their dad really lost it at the hospital room, barking at the doctors with wild eyes and basically scaring the crap out of everyone. David Gilbert was rather intimidating as it was, with broad shoulders and a tall figure, his manly face never betraying any emotion when it came to strangers and people he didn't trust. Years of being a cop toughened him up; at the most gruesome crime scenes he was the only one who could calmly eat his lunch, and at the most heart wrecking cases he could discuss the deaths with boredom. Staying professional was the most important thing to him after his family, and professional meant staying calm, calculating, thinking before rushing into anything. However, that horrible night had another revelation in store for Gilberts – the man of the family first burst into hospital, looking unbelievably angry, furious even, ready to throw punches, and then… something just broke inside of him.

Tori never thought in a million years that she would ever be scared of her own father. But the storm that was David Gilbert calmed as soon as it started when he was finally able to fight his way to Elena's room. He stood there, silently gazing at his oldest daughter's sleeping form – at least Tori assumed he was looking at her, she couldn't really tell with his back facing her. And then, she noticed the way his shoulders were slightly shaking, irregularly, and she realized that her father, the biggest and most badass cop in LA, was crying openly.

She'd never seen her father cry. Not when he lost his parents, not when their family had financial struggles, not when he and their mother got into a huge fight that almost ended in divorce. But that night, David Gilbert sobbed and cried, and as he slowly turned away from Elena, he gathered his younger children into his arms, breaking down completely. Naturally, Tori cried, too, and she could see over her father's shoulder as Jeremy tried to discretely wipe away his own tears.

However, Elena got to see only David Gilbert they all knew: the cop that loved and knew how to do his job, and the father that fiercely protected his children with everything he had. His team interrogated Elena, Tori, Jeremy and even Cat for almost an entire day and now, he was a man with a mission, working on Sunday and making almost an entire police department research the case.

"You know why he's like that," Tori mused, also reaching for a piece of bacon. "He almost lost his daughter, of course he wants to find the asshole who's responsible for this. And we're rooting for that, you know."

"I… of course I know that, it's completely understandable," Elena let out an almost inaudible sigh, and the younger sister could tell that she was bothered by something. "But… it's also a great distraction for him, isn't it? I mean, I'm not saying he's not doing it for me, but… he's throwing himself so much into this case for himself, as well."

Tori stopped chewing as she thought over what her sister was saying. She was right, of course she was right.

"Yeah. I see your point. I don't think he wanted his distraction to hit so close to home, but he's totally using this as a shield." The younger Gilbert gulped down her juice and mulled over her next words. "I would too, I think. I get what he's going through, so it's not like it's so surprising. He's been losing himself in his work for three months now. Ever since Mom and his partner Gary…" Tori trailed off, not wanting to actually _say _it, and judging by the way Elena winced, her older sister also didn't want to hear it.

Their family had been falling apart since summer when their mother came clean about her affair, wrenched with guilt. The worst thing about that betrayal was that it was double: Holly Gilbert was having an affair with no other that dad's work partner, Gary. The bond between partners in police was almost sacred – they were people who shielded each other from bullets, as David and Gary had done on several occasions. It was a devastating blow to their family. Now, three months later, with their Mom and Dad walking around each other on egg shells, Jeremy not acknowledging their mother's presence and Tori having teenage hormones blowing up in her face, the incident with Elena could bring them back together or tear them further. Tori really hoped for the first option.

"When's Mom coming back, anyway?" Elena attempted to change the topic to a lighter one.

"She called from the airport when you were sleeping," Tori answered with a brighter tone, also hoping to mask the uneasiness she felt at the moment. "Approximately six-seven hours of Mom clutching her seatbelt for dear life and we'll be having the pot pie for dinner."

Elena laughed lightly.

"You'd think she'd be used to flying by now since she took that job as an art consultant, but she's still so terrified of the planes."

"She got a chance to do something she enjoys, guess it outweighs the one in a million chance of crashing," Tori replied, smiling. Elena rolled her eyes at that.

"Yeah, right. She took the job firmly believing that there will be a possibility of a) either her staying rooted in one place or b) travelling by means other than flying." The tan brunette shuddered slightly, remembering something. "I still can't forget the trip we took across the country on a train. I swear I threw up everything I _ever _ate up to that point."

"Ew, gross," Tori mumbled, eyeing the stack of pancakes. They'd gone cold, probably. Didn't matter anyway – her appetite hadn't been that good those couple of days, and a pancake she washed down with a glass of juice filled her stomach with heaviness.

"Hey, you know what can put us out of this doom and gloom?" Elena asked suddenly out of nowhere, her eyes twinkling. The youngest Gilbert squinted at her suspiciously.

"What?" She asked warily. Elena wasn't usually the type to go all wild and suggest something crazy, but who knew. Lately, everything had been changing so rapidly, she wouldn't be surprised if her older sister pulled a Miley Cyrus on her.

"Well, the thing that cheers up every woman on the planet in the age range of 10 till 50," the taller brunette swung her legs, practically jumping from the bed on the floor and ignoring Tori's horrified gasp. "Shopping!"

Tori shook her head with a determined expression on her face at that.

"Oh no no no, Elena," she also stood up, gathering the tray with leftover food. "You are not allowed to even _walk _ right now, so that's just a big no for you."

"Oh come on!" Elena whined at her, as Tori watched her, amused. Elena didn't usually whine. Much. "I'm not handicapped, just have a bit of a… slash in my middle section _which _is completely healed, by the way. And hey, I wasn't done with that!" The older Gilbert reached over to grab the tray back, and Tori handed it over willingly, not wanting to clean up the mess that was sure to happen if they fought over the tray.

"Please, Tori? I just can't stay all holed up in the room. And I swear, one more minute of watching Jeremy play Halo and we will have one less male Gilbert in the house." Elena gave Tori her best expression of puppy dog eyes, which was pretty damn good.

The shorter half-Latina sighed. It wasn't like she could _really _stop Elena from going to the mall. And her wound did seem to be magically closing by the second…

"I know that look," Elena pointed at her with mischief in her dark eyes. "You're totally caving right now, aren't you?" At Tori's somewhat reluctant nod, she victoriously thrust her fist in the air, laughing. "I knew it! We're going to the mall!"

Tori only smirked, slightly shaking her head. That decision was going to prove to be the worst one she'd ever made, considering Elena's slight-practically-non-existent-alright-maybe-enor mous shopping addiction, but seeing her sister look so alive was totally worth it.

Besides, she needed some refreshment in her wardrobe as well. Lately, she'd been really into the color blue.

* * *

Big cities have big libraries.

Of course, when I say big, I mean huge ass libraries that are too big even for a thousand year old vampire.

I stayed up all night trying to find something about the doppelganger phenomena. I had close to nothing so far, and even my asking around hadn't been much of a help.

I needed to get to the bottom of this. Ever since the night in the woods I couldn't stop thinking about the Gilbert sisters, going over every possible connection they might have with Katherine and Tatia. I also was swamped with the sudden memories from the past, and of course questions. Why Tatia had doppelgangers? Was she a doppelganger herself? What was the purpose of said doppelgangers, if there was one? Why Tori couldn't be compelled by me?

Those were just first in the endless list of questions that Gilberts arose in my head. They were all I could think about, and one of them popped into my head more than the other. And even though logically I should have been thinking about the older one, I found my thoughts inevitably being drawn to Tori. There was something about her, the connection I felt, and not in the lovey-dovey sense, although I had to admit, the girl had exceptional facial features for a human… Dammit, getting off track again.

The connection appeared to be a bit magical. I hadn't paid enough attention to it, seeing as I was first scalded with coffee and then set on killing Tori because I thought she was a werewolf, but now that I thought about it, I could remember a slight magical presence when I was around her. Something pricking on my skin and tingling down my spine.

And now, two nights after, I had no information on my hands, and the book research proved to be utter waste of time.

Fortunately, I had other resources that I could utilize.

As I thought over the channels I was going to put to a good use, I opened the front door of my mansion to find the living room completely filled with carton boxes of different sizes. The plastic wraps were scattered all over the floor, and as I looked closely, I located several gadgets lying next to the wrap.

I gritted my teeth before calling out dangerously to the person who was, no doubt, entirely responsible for the mess in my living room.

"Damon!" when I was greeted with silence, I tried again, really shouting this time at the top of my lungs, Jade-West-style. "Goddammit, Damon!"

"I wouldn't go near her if I were you, brother," Stefan stated from my left, clearly amused. "I'm pretty sure she's gonna start spewing fire any second now."

"On the contrary, brother dearest," I let my accent loose, smirking at him lightly. "I am perfectly calm," I strolled past him into the Wal-Mart Warehouse formerly known as the living room, looking around. "But then again, I don't really need to be furious to rip your brother's head off of his shoulders, and yes, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be _immensely _satisfied by the act." I stopped near one of the smaller boxes, taking a peek inside. Seriously? The man is 160-something years old, and he bought an Xbox?

"Have it ever occurred to you that you're handing out the death threats to me like Oprah?" Ah, speak of the devil. I turned around to be greeted by the sight of a smirking Damon holding some wires in his hand.

"Keeps you on your toes, don't it?" I questioned him lightly, cocking my head to the right. "Now please do tell, when's the poor employee you compelled to get all of this is being beheaded by the company executives? I personally wouldn't mind watching."

Damon raised an eyebrow at me, shuddering slightly.

"First of all, don't talk in this accent of yours, it creeps me out. And second," he passed by the boxes, taking out a laptop from one of them and handing it to Stefan, who looked positively giddy, "I didn't compel anyone, I _bought _all of it."

"Enlighten me, big brother, just where did you get the money to do so?" I deepened my accent just to tick him off. Well, that, and it felt good to talk like in the old times. Bittersweet nostalgia, whatever.

"Salvatores are filthy rich, little sister," he winked at me. "Compelling half the Wall Street and having some pretty secure investments under the family name helps us get by in this life, just like in several past lifetimes, too."

I gasped in a mock horror, clutching my chest. "And you made me buy you drinks at the bar in seventies." I dropped the act then, flashing to him at a vampire speed. "Seriously, you're such a cheap ass."

"Enough with the compliments already," he waved at me, otherwise occupied with his new toys. Men and their technology. No, let me paraphrase that. Damon and his technology. He was a complete junkie, I swear. It was like if he didn't get his hands on the newest updated version of whatever cellphone-console-laptop there was he would burst into flames.

"Shit," Damon cursed under his breath, looking for something in the boxes and obviously not finding it. "I knew I forgot something."

"How to be a decent human being?" I teased him. "Or, you know, vampire. Whatever."

"I forgot to order the most important thing, the TV," he sighed, looking over the boxes again.

"What's wrong with the one we have?" I asked, confused. The Salvatore brothers exchanged glances.

"You're on your own," Stefan stated as he raised his hands and backed out of the room, snatching a laptop and a controller from a small box on his way out.

The older Salvatore shrugged his shoulders and motioned for me to follow him to the couch that was in front of the old TV.

"Go ahead," he thrust a remote in my hand. I narrowed my eyes at him in suspicion, but he simply relaxed in his chair, almost whistling in his fake innocence.

"Fine," I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior and turned the TV on.

Or at least tried to turn it on. However, the thing didn't cooperate with me, instead choosing to produce a series of snaps and cracking from the inside, finally going out with a 'pssst' sound. I was pretty sure I saw some smoke coming out of it.

"Oh no, Jade," Damon deadpanned from his chair. "It's tip top. I'm just not sure about the color."

"Ass," I muttered under my breath, throwing the remote at him which he easily dodged. "So what? Order a new one." After the night of researching and feeling like a part of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Scooby gang, all I wanted was to kick back with some fine scotch I purchased sometime in 1800's. Man, did I ever miss my alcohol stash when I left this town.

Apparently, Damon had other plans for me today.

"I can't do that, they take forever to deliver, and I can't let my baby just lay here without serving its purpose," his fingertips lovingly grazed the box with the console, as I assumed.

"So what are you planning to do – oh wait. I don't care." I rose up from the chair, cracking my neck from side to side and hearing satisfying pops. "Make sure to clean the bloody mess or I'm draining you of vervain and compelling you to act _flamingly gay _for a week," with that, I turned on my heels and headed to the study. Damon blurred his way to me, stopping me from going further.

"Nah-ah, little one," he flicked my nose. Did he have a death wish of something? "No can do. We're going to the mall and do some brother-sister bonding, with you telling me everything you dug up on this doppelganger business and me finding the perfect mate for my new baby over there."

If I spent another decade with the arrogant asshole in front of me, I swear I was going to have my eyes rolled inside my head permanently.

"Why the fuck do you need me for? Take Stefan," I tried to get past him, but Damon blocked me effectively, giving me a lopsided grin.

"He's too boring," the blue-eyed Salvatore stated, ignoring his younger brother's 'I heard that!' from the kitchen. "Besides, I'm not _asking _you to come with me, I'm _telling_ you to do so. I am your legal guardian, after all, Jade Salvatore," his smirk grew even bigger as he bounced his eyebrows up and down.

"Yeah, on _paper, _but I think you're forgetting who's older and getting _angrier _by the second," I all but growled at him.

He just sighed at me.

"Look, Jade, we coulda been in the car by now, drinking good ole AB negative and listening to David Bowie. Stop with all the teenage angst and let's just go." With that, he turned on his heels and sped to the door, stopping to lok back at me with a raised eyebrow. "Well?"

I contemplated just snapping his neck and going on my merry way, but I really didn't want to be dealing with a grumpy Damon for another week. He always complained that I made the pain so much worse somehow.

Besides, I really craved me some blood fresh from the source, and with Stefan staying at home, we most likely were going to hit some bars later. Scotch-filled blood from the vein always was on my top 5 favorite cocktails list.

* * *

"I do not compel women to sleep with me!" The argument started in the car, somewhere between AC/DC 'If You Want Blood' and Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust', and Damon was having a hard time keeping his cool. I, however, remained stoically calm, smirking at his obvious rage.

"Do too," I replied lightly, scanning the mall. It was rather huge, but then again, it was LA. Clothes, clothes, clothes, food court, more clothes. Typical.

"'Do too,' really, 'do too'? That's your comeback?"

"I don't need a comeback, I'm not the one having to compel girls to sleep with me," I shrugged at him, stating it in a mockingly calm manner.

"For the last time… Wait, 'girls'?" Damon looked cross between angry from the previous argument and curious at the revelation.

"Seriously, Damon, don't start with the big brother routine or I'll stake myself," I rolled my eyes at him and continued with looking around. For a second, I thought I caught a glimpse of familiar chestnut curls, but the girl turned around, revealing herself to be not Tori Gilbert. Great, now I was seeing things.

"Oh, believe me, I'm not starting anything," he smirked at me, doing his flirtatious eye thing that he totally stole from me. "I just find it incredibly sexy," he purred at me appreciatively. Then, he immediately cringed, realizing just how suggestive and _really _inappropriate he sounded.

I stopped in my tracks, and we just stared at each other. After some painfully long and awkward seconds, I shuddered slightly.

"This was wrong on so many levels."

"Yeah," Damon apparently agreed with me as he nodded.

We were silent for a while.

"Still think you compel your bedtime partners."

"That's it," he gripped my elbow, dragging me somewhere. Oh, shit. Damon finally snapped. Somehow, I thought it would happen more gradually.

"I am going to prove to you and the whole world once and for all that Damon Salvatore never did and never will compel a woman to sleep with him," he muttered under his breath, taking determined steps toward the food court area.

"Okay, first of all, talking about yourself in a third person? Even compulsion won't get a woman in bed with you, and second," I broke free from him, smirking with narrowed eyes. "I would _love_ to witness you trying to pick up girls in a _mall _at the _food court _at," I glanced up at the big mall clock, "12 a.m. in the morning." He faltered slightly, only now realizing that he was a bit out of his element. Alright, Damon _really _was like sex on legs, but the atmosphere around us didn't exactly do him justice. Damon's appearance practically screamed whiskey, rock'n'roll, muscle cars and bad decision, but everything had its own time and place, and right now, my older brother and his smoldering gaze couldn't be further from theirs.

"Well," he straightened, an annoyingly sexy smirk ever so present on his face. "The difficult circumstances will prove my point even further." He turned around, obviously looking for his prey. "How do you like the redhead over there?"

I looked over at the girl in question. A young woman in her early twenties, cute and reeking of desperation. Too easy, I decided as I scanned the crowd.

The familiar straight brown hair caught my attention as their owner sat on a bar stool near us, apparently waiting for her coffee. I held my breath as the girl slightly turned her head, giving me a perfect view of her profile.

Elena Gilbert was sitting there, chatting with a coffee boy and effectively dodging his pathetic attempts at flirting.

How the hell was she even here? Was her sister here with her? Wasn't she supposed to be in a hospital, hooked up on whatever medication they give to severely injured?

I was going to have a long talk with Damon about the appropriate amount of blood to give when healing someone.

"So?" I tore my eyes away from Elena's back and focused them on the impatient-looking Damon. Oh, right. The stupid challenge, or whatever. "The redhead?"

"No," I slowly said as the wheels churned in my head. "No, not the redhead…"

There was some girl next to the older Gilbert, blonde and probably gullible. Elena was sitting with her back to us, and she didn't particularly stand out when her face wasn't visible, so Damon wouldn't recognize her as long as she was facing away from him. Besides, Damon would be focused on his blonde prey… Man, I'm one evil bitch.

But then again, him making an ass out of himself in front of Elena was perfect payback for littering my living room.

"Not the redhead," I repeated out loud, smiling wickedly.

* * *

"Hey, where were you?" Tori questioned as Elena appeared next to her. The taller brunette just raised two cups of coffee together with her eyebrow.

"Oh, cool, thanks," Tori grabbed a cup, taking a small sip. She studied her sister as she gripped her cup, looking a bit agitated by something. "What's got you so wound up? Did the coffee try to attack you when you were getting it?" She asked teasingly. Elena shook her head no, scowling a bit at something. Tori also frowned, her earlier playfulness gone. "'Lena, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Elena got out, scowling even more. "There was that guy… He's such an ass," she added, gulping her coffee.

"What guy? Did he try to do something to you?" Younger half-Latina tensed up.

"No, God no," Elena breathed out. "He's just a jerk." Tori just looked at her, amused. Her sister wasn't easy to irritate, but the mysterious guy did the job. Now Tori was curious to take a look at him. He must be something else if he got under Elena's skin so fast.

"Well, tell me about Mr. Jerk, then," she demanded, walking with her sister to the nearest table and setting her bags on a free chair.

Elena huffed, racking her hand through her hair. "There's not much to tell, just… Okay, I was waiting for my coffee at Costa and chatting with Jimmy…"

"Still thinks he's got a chance?" Tori interrupted, arching her eyebrow.

"That's not nice, Tori," Elena chided. "But… yeah. Anyway, he came up to the girl sitting next to me, all arrogant and flirty and generally thinking he's God's gift sent to women," Elena's fingers gripped her cup a bit tighter at that point, and Tori contemplated carefully taking it away from her. "Well, I tried not to pay attention to their disgustingly flirty conversation, even turned my head the other way, but then that _jerk _flat out ordered the girl to walk away from him and stop being so desperate for attention!"

Tori widened her eyes at that.

"Of course the poor humiliated girl simply walked away from him, and he just said something like: 'two minutes, take that, Gabe' – was it 'Gade'? 'Jade'? Whatever," Elena gulped down her coffee and threw the cup away, fuming. "I wasn't half as angry back then, by the way. I just wanted to say my mind and go, but… Let's just say things escalated."

"Um… Escalated… How exactly?" Tori inquired, curious. Her older sister sighed.

"We had a fight about women being the ones to fuck up men, and I had a feeling he somehow blamed me for everything that's ever happened to poor defenseless guys," she shook her head slightly, her silky hair cascading down her shoulders. "I don't get it. First he looks at me completely awestruck, and then he loses it. It's not like _I'm _the bitch that broke his heart. If he had one to break to begin with," Elena concluded with venom which was a particularly rare thing to be detected in older Gilbert's voice.

Elena ranted on and on about her encounter with the guy that apparently represented every jerk on the planet, but her words fell on deaf ears as Tori's eyes found the crystal blue ones staring back at her. Jade stood a few meters behind her sister together with a seemingly angry man, both of them decked in black and leather. Jade slowly smirked at the brunette, her gaze becoming smoldering, and Tori felt her stomach erupt in thousands of butterflies. The man near Jade also snapped his head to look at Tori, and she smiled, recognizing Damon. So Salvatores also had a day out at the mall, it seemed.

"Hey, 'Lena," she whispered to her sister, stopping her mid-tirade. "Damon is here with Jade!"

Elena widened her eyes slightly, looking excited.

"The one that saved me? Where?" Elena tried to whip around in her seat, but Tori grabbed her hand.

"They are coming up to us, be cool!" the youngest Gilbert hissed at the olive-skinned girl, effectively shutting her up. Tori had to hold in a snicker at the way Elena tried to appear aloof when it was obvious how nervous and excited she was about meeting her mysterious and, according to her younger sister, totally hot savior.

Tori had her own nervousness to deal with as she watched Jade and Damon get closer, with the raven-haired girl not taking her eyes off of the half-Latina. She took in Jade's appearance. She clearly wanted to get one message across: no one messes with Jade Salvatore. Dangerously dark make up – check. Grey V-neck t-shirt, a bit tight in the chest area – Tori blushed slightly at that observation – check. The leather jacket? Double check. The jacket's sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, exposing a tattoo on her arm, and her biker boots resembled those of her brother. Was he even her brother? They had to be related with the way they looked so similiar, but he might be an uncle, a father, a cousin.

Well, she had an opportunity to ask as the Salvatores now stood at their table, with Damon standing directly behind pretending-to-be-cool Elena and Jade to her left, both of them wearing identical smirks.

"Why hello there, little Gilbert. I have to say, I like this meeting a lot better than the previous one."

Tori was going to say something, but the way Elena suddenly tensed up and scowled was a rather effective way to stop her from speaking.

"You have got to be kidding me," Elena muttered, slowly rising up from her seat and turning around to be greeted by a smirking Salvatore.

"Hello, Elena," Damon drawled, looking unbelievably smug.

Tori locked eyes with Jade who seemed to be amused by the events unfolding before her eyes. What was going on?


	6. Best Served Cold pt2

_Wow, two days and another update, I'm on a roll._

_I want to thank you guys for all the reviews and favouring and putting the story on your alerts- that means a lot to me:)_

_I have an important question for you - my Damon/Elena shipper heart desperately wants to make them a second main pairing, with them getting their own scenes and POVs. Do you want to see that happening or not?_

_And another important request - please review :) It would mean a lot to me to see what you think of the story, and I am very open to constructive feedback. Do you like where the story is going? How you wish the future events to proceed? Do you want more siblings interaction or less? (We all know you want a lot more of Jori interaction :) Leave it all in the reviews - every single one counts!_

* * *

"You fucking knew she was sitting there, didn't you?"

"Yeah, so?" I asked in a bored tone, browsing through coffee catalogues. Latte caramel, macchiatos, cherry mochas… Humans really did know how to fuck things up. Why would you want to disturb a perfectly bitter and strong coffee taste with… lime syrup, really?

"Stop fucking around, Jade," Damon continued with his tantrum. "You took it too far this time."

"Took what too far?" I spun around to scrutinize him. The blue-eyed man didn't back down under my intense gaze, glaring in return. "What, did I fuck up your chances with the girl? Now you won't be able to ride off into sunset together?" I got closer to him, invading his personal space and hissing out the next words. "Well guess _what, _lover boy. You _can't _go there, and neither can your brother."

"So what, you did it on purpose?" He snapped at me, his jaw locked.

"I didn't have a clear purpose, I just thought it would be fun to see, and I so wasn't disappointed," I smirked at him. "Seriously, it was like placing a cat and a dog together in a really small cage. Never thought the Gilbert girl had it in her – if looks could kill, you'd be a pile of ashes by now."

"Ha – ha," Damon deadpanned, throwing daggers at me with his eyes.

"Look, I might have overdone it," I addressed the sulking Salvatore. He simply glared at me. "But I wasn't the one getting into a fight with her. I could understand her getting so worked up at you since you were being your usual sexist asshole self, but why'd you go and blow up at her like that?" I was genuinely curious about that, too.

"I don't… I don't know," he sighed, running his head through the jet-black mess that was his hair. "I wasn't fucking prepared for the encounter," he gave me a sharp look at that, "and it got… heavy. I just sat there, seduced the girl – _two minutes, _by the way, - and then I turn around and Katherine is here, judging me." He stared off into space, thinking something over. "I know she's not Katherine by a long shot, but all I could see was _her. _And I got _furious._"

"Yeah, no kidding," I raised my pierced eyebrow at him.

"Fuck you, Jade," he huffed back, his crystal eyes filled with anger. "It's your fault anyway."

I just shrugged at him, looking around to keep myself entertained. However, the entertainment found me this time as my vampire hearing caught an unmistakable pleasant rasp coming from behind me.

'_Um… Escalated… How exactly?_'

So Tori _was_ there with Elena.

I turned around, interrupting Damon's rant about me being a pathetic excuse for a sibling. "Shut up already," I tossed over my shoulder, watching the Gilberts deep in a conversation, no doubt discussing my jerk of a brother. "Look what I found," I grinned slightly, studying the younger Gilbert from a distance. There were several meters between us, and she hadn't noticed me yet.

I let my eyes trail up her jeans-clad legs and a light long-sleeved purple crew-neck that was tight in all the right places. Her warm dark eyes were widened slightly as she listened to Elena fume about her meeting with Damon. Wow, he really got her going –she sounded pretty pissed.

As I eavesdropped on Elena's tirade, Tori turned her head a bit and found my eyes with hers. I smirked slowly, noticing the way she so obviously checked me out. Damon followed my line of sight, looking Tori up and down before letting out a slow whistle.

"You know, they look practically alike," he muttered under his breath.

"Not really," I started my way to Gilbert sisters, with my brother trailing after me. "The cheekbones are different."

I felt Tori's eyes on me the entire time we walked toward them, which wasn't that long, but still. It was clear that she liked what she saw, judging by her slight blush and embarrassed expressions on her face. She definitely wasn't used to being interested in girls; and generally, she most probably wasn't the bold, forward type. As far as I could tell, Tori Gilbert was the ultimate girl-next-door: they were the ones guys fell madly in love with and married, and that was exactly the type I _never_ went after.

However, there was a whole other reason for me not to try anything with this girl, aside from her being involved in some funky magical doppelganger business. She was _human_, and I didn't pursue humans.

And it was about time I remembered that.

I was torn out of my musings as Elena slowly turned around, clearly not liking the idea of _Damon _being the one who saved her in the woods, and his smugness didn't help the situation at all.

"Okay, what's going on?" Tori piped up from her seat, looking between our older siblings confusedly. Okay, she was cute, but not the brightest crayon in the box, as it seemed. "Wait, Damon… _He's _the guy from the coffee place?" Oops, guess I was wrong.

"Ding-ding-ding!" Damon imitated the winning sound, winking at Tori. "Wow, it must be _really _awkward for you right now," he addressed Elena, fake sympathy all over his face. The older Gilbert was practically seething at the moment.

I decided to prevent any eye-scratching that was about to ensue, judging by the way Elena's back was so tensed up.

"Hi, Tori," I stated with boredom. "Why don't you introduce us?"

"Um, sure," she hesitatingly got up, still observing the situation warily. "Jade, this is Elena, my older sister."

"Ah, sister," I smirked lightly, shaking the hand Elena offered. "Well, I'm Jade Salvatore, and this is Damon, my older brother."

"_And _her legal guardian," he added in a light tone, continuing to grin arrogantly at the taller brunette.

"It's nice to meet you," Elena got out, sending an obviously fake smile his way.

"So, Elena, how are you feeling after what happened the other night?" I asked, feigning concern. I knew already that she was as good as new, with Damon's blood in her system. Which was pretty fucked up – we vampires were the ones that could do the most damage to humans, and yet our blood was the ultimate cure for them. Something to do with our awesome regeneration abilities, I supposed.

"I feel very good, thank you," Elena replied with a cold politeness. So the oldest Gilbert sibling didn't like us. Color me unsurprised. With that giant stick up her ass… "So, _Damon,_" I had to give her props for trying to cover the apparent disdain in her voice. Damon clearly was enjoying himself a little too much, sporting a shit-eating grin as he watched Elena being humiliated. "I guess I should thank you for saving my life. So, _thank you._" The girl managed to sound rather sincere, her deep soulful eyes staring into my brother's. Damon looked lost for a moment, not comprehending the sudden kindness from her, before gathering himself and flashing another smirk her way. "You're most welcome, _Elena," _he drawled. "It'd be _tragic _for the world to lose such a gorgeous woman as yourself."

"Um… thanks?" Elena said cautiously.

While we were making with the small talk, we formed a circle, sort of, standing a bit further from the table the Gilberts were seated at previously. Tori also got up from her sit, and as she got closer to me, I felt it – the low pleasant hum throughout my body, noticeable only if you were looking for it. Just what this girl was, exactly?

The girl in question must've felt my studying gaze on her because she turned her head to me, locking her eyes on mine. She smiled softly, her chocolate orbs warming up even more, and I had to forcefully remind myself again that her heart still beat in her chest, and I needed it to stay that way. That meant staying away from her.

"Any info on who did this to you?" I asked the older sister, distracting myself from Tori.

"No, but they are looking for the guy," she replied to me, seemingly studying me and trying to figure me out. Or maybe she thought she already had me figured out. My tattoos and wardrobe choice spoke for myself, at least to judgmental stuck-ups, and I had a feeling older Gilbert was one of them.

I could just picture her talking Tori out of socializing with me. Speaking of whom…

"And you, are you alright?" I addressed the shorter brunette.

"Yeah, I am, thanks," the tan girl answered, sounding a lot more welcoming than her sister. She beamed at me with her award-winning smile, and damn, the girl was so enthusiastic all the time, it was annoying.

"Good," I stated coolly, putting her giddiness down a notch. Her smile fell slightly at my bored tone, and I tried to ignore a pang in my chest at seeing that.

It was for the best.

"So, what are you doing here? Just the sisterly bonding at the mall?" Damon managed not to sound like a complete asshole for a moment, but the teasing look he sent Elena's way ruined it.

"Yup," Tori answered for her sister, smiling at him. "Decided to stop with all the angst and just hang out and shop."

"Oh, shopping," Damon rubbed his hands together in mocking excitement. "We're also here to do some of it, as well. Why don't you join us?"

What?

"Excuse me and my brother for a moment," I quickly announced, taking a few steps to the side with Damon wordlessly following me.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" I hissed at him low enough so Gilberts wouldn't hear us. The sisters looked at us, confused, before also turning to each other to whisper. Elena wasn't looking too happy while Tori was saying something to her rapidly, her face taking on a pleading expression.

"I gave you the chance to bail, you didn't take it. Now we're here, and the best way to find out what's up with all the Katherine-face-wearing is to get to know the brat," he said easily, smirking flirtatiously at the girls passing around us. "So deal with it," he turned to me, narrowing his eyes. "By the way, the little Gilbert is giving you 'fuck-me' eyes, so exploit that while you're at it," with that, he tried to leave, but I stopped him by grabbing his elbow.

"We _don't _mingle with humans," I said dangerously low at him.

"I'm not saying 'seduce her'; I'm just saying she likes you so it'll be easier to get the information out of her," he shrugged free of my grasp, speaking in low tones. "And anyway, what's the deal with you and humans? And _dating _in general?"

"I don't date, and as for humans," I glared at him, "It's none of your business."

"Look," he grew impatient with me and my attitude, "Despise them all you want, but do so while we're researching this weird doppelganger case. And let's get back before they think we're weirdos," he looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, more than they already think."

"Fine," I gritted through my teeth, turning to walk back to the brunette girls. While Damon and I had our little sidebar, someone else joined the Gilberts. All I could see was long legs and long blonde hair cascading down a toned back.

"Well isn't the mall just full of hotties today," Damon whistled beside me, eyeing the girl. She chatted with Tori and Elena, and with the way they looked so at ease, I figured they knew her well.

"You haven't even seen her face yet, ass," I muttered, walking up to the three girls.

"Oh, Jade, we were just talking about you," Tori beamed at me while Elena smiled a little forcefully. "This is Jade Salvatore and her brother Damon, and this is…" Just as Tori went on with the introductions, the girl turned around, smirking at me with a wicked glint in her eyes, and I had to stop myself from vamping out as I immediately recognized her.

"Alyssa Vaughn," I coldly stated, smiling back in the same manner.

"Oh, so this _is _the same Jade from your kindergarten?" Tori asked, oblivious to the face-off between me and the blonde girl. Well, I wouldn't call her a girl. She _was _a little over 400-years-old, after all.

Was it a 'meet a person from your past' week and my announcement letter got lost in the mail?

"Yes it is," Alyssa drawled slowly, her Australian accent just as I remembered. "Hello Jade… Salvatore, is it? I always had problems with last names," she smirked, clearly taunting me.

"What a coincidence, _Alyssa,_" I sweetly said, giving her a fake grin. "What brings you to our side of town?"

"Apparently I go to school with you," my arch nemesis from 300 years ago said back, just as sweetly. Damon tensed up next to me, sensing that the girl was bad news.

"We have a lot of catching up to do, then," I never once took off my eyes of her, carefully watching her every step. She was smart so she wouldn't try anything with so many witnesses, but if there was another thing that could describe Alyssa, it was unpredictable. Also impulsive, obsessive and plain crazy. Take your pick.

There were a million questions running through my mind, however, the only thought that stood above all was getting Alyssa away from Tori. And Elena, of course.

"Um Elena… here's the thing," Damon spoke up from my left, alternating between keeping an eye on Alyssa and looking at the older Gilbert. "I think we got off the wrong foot. Jade pissed me off today. and… I'm kind of a dick," he flashed a smile at Elena who nodded in silent agreement. "I can't promise I will behave, but I am willing to get into your good grades by buying you ice-cream, how does that sound?"

"You kinda did the job by saving my life the other night," Elena replied back with a raised eyebrow. However, the whole Ice Queen front she put up was slowly melting as she gave Damon a half-smile. My brother might be an ass, but he sure was a charming ass. I would have kissed him on the spot if it wasn't for a ruthless blonde killer standing in front of me.

"Well, let's just say it's me making up for my future screw-ups, and I promise there will be plenty," he stated. "Little Gilbert, wanna join us?"

"Uh, you guys go ahead, I'll be there in a minute." Dammit Tori! Go with Damon, he's actually trying to save your life!

The tan girl was looking between me and Alyssa, trying to comprehend what was going on between us. I was sure she misjudged the intense eye-contest I was having with Alyssa, and clearly she did not like what she saw.

Yeah, well. You and me both, sistah.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention… I'm not taking 'no' for an answer," my brother stated matter-off-fact, grasping Tori by her shoulders and leading her away with Elena following them. "Jade and Alyssa will join us soon; they gotta catch up anyway, as they said…"

Damon's voice faded out of my human hearing range together with Tori's slight protests and Elena's soft giggles.

"So it's 'Salvatore' now? Are you changing your last name every century?" Her playful tone didn't fool me; her eyes held cold anger which was directed at me.

"Cut the crap, Alyssa," I said icily, not wanting to play any games. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Same as you, darling," she continued to smirk at me. "Elena."

"Elena's not the reason why I'm here," I threw back at her. We began to circle each other slowly, and whilst I was almost completely sure it wouldn't get to a fight, I had my body ready on defense.

"Of course not, but she's the reason you _stayed,_" she chuckled a bit, studying me. "Or is it the other one? _Victoria?_"

My eyes flashed blood as veins protruded under my eyes for just a second, but it was enough for Alyssa to notice.

"Oh, a sore spot, is it? I thought you didn't fancy humans, _Jadelyn,_" the blonde vampire cocked her head to the side.

"I don't and it's none of your business," I replied easily, taking her in. She changed from the last moment I saw her. I think it was in Prague, 1876 – or was it 1870? All I remember was it being summer, and her trying to kill me. However, the first time we met wasn't in Prague, and I remember that time a lot more clearly.

It was Los Angeles, 1764, and she was a sweet 100-years-old vampire, travelling the States together with her biological vampire mother. Pearl Vaughn. The woman I got killed, one of the few dead people I was actually sorry about. Well, she wasn't technically 'people', and it wasn't technically my fault. The Vaughn family got caught in crossfire, a family rivalry between me and my father. And just as her mother, that sweet girl from eighteenth century was long gone, replaced with a maniacal killer who just so happened to be hell-bent on killing me.

I carried a lot of guilt on my shoulders from centuries of sin, but I was selfish enough to continue to live with it, not become ashes at the hands of a crazed vampire.

"So, Elena – a fascinating little thing, isn't she?" Alyssa questioned lightly, the glint in her eyes becoming more apparent. "Didn't really pay close attention to her, since I also got back here for a different reason; however, the word on the street is she's on some ancient vampire's 'the most wanted' list." At my confused scowl, she laughed out loud, a little disbelievingly. "You have _no_ idea what I am talking about, do you?"

I had enough of her riddles. Never was one for patience, anyway.

I flashed over to her – luckily, there were only a couple of meters between us, and humans didn't mind us – and caught her hand in mine, twisting it ill I heard a satisfying crack. She fully vamped out at me, trying to get away, but I expertly spun from her, getting her in a dead lock with my arms. To an outsider, we were two girls in a friendly hug. For Alyssa, the experience was anything but friendly. Me holding her wrist at an unnatural angle was preventing her broken bones from healing themselves. However, that didn't stop them for trying, which resulted in their owner experiencing an unbelievable pain of bones being broken and regenerated over and over.

"How… the hell… are you… so… strong," Alyssa panted out heavily, trying and failing miserably to break free from my grasp.

"First rule of survival: never trust anybody with your deepest darkest secrets," I whispered in her ear coldly. "Second rule, fully contradicting the first one – if someone wants to know something _and _has the power to kill you on the spot, fucking _cooperate _with them. In our case," I twisted her hand further, and the blonde let out a pained growl, "I ask, you answer. I don't like the answer," I backed away without releasing my hold on her to give her a sweet smile, "I kill you."

"Oh… Jade..." she chuckled through pain. "Always… so… demanding…"

"Who's looking for Gilbert and why?" I asked through my teeth.

"Rose… her name… is… Rose," Alyssa's voice was filled with pain as she struggled to control it. I liked that fact, but I had to wait for her to get over the pain before she could let another word out, and it annoyed me. And, frankly speaking, I just wanted her to realize who had the power here; other than that, I really didn't need to use force. Not physical one, at least.

I let her go, and she stood up, shaking her hand as it healed back properly. She appeared to be really surprised at me letting her go so quickly, but before she could say anything else, I was right in front of her, my pupils dilating.

Yup. The perk of being the Original vampire was I got to compel other vampires. A nifty trick to have up my sleeve.

"You will tell me everything you know about Elena Gilbert and Rose," I spoke calmly as Alyssa got caught in a trance.

"Elena Gilbert is a doppelganger of Katerina Petrova," she answered in a dull voice. "She is a magical being that can be used in a powerful spell. I don't know exactly what the spell does. Rose is a 500 years old vampire. I haven't seen her in person, and all I know is she is looking for Katerina's doppelganger."

That gave me less than nothing. I had even more information than Alyssa, as she seemingly didn't know about Tatia.

"When and why did you come back to Los Angeles?"

"I came back half a year ago, wanting to start over," Alyssa continued in the same empty voice, her dull gaze focused on my eyes. "I wanted to finally move on with my life."

I pondered that for a moment.

"How did you know about Elena Gilbert being a doppelganger?"

"About a month ago I heard at a vampire underground bar in Boston that some Rose opened the hunting season on a doppelganger. I was interested, and her close assistant trusted me with Katerina's portrait, where I immediately recognized the older sister of my classmate, Elena."

Fuck. So not only Alyssa, but the whole vampire community was on this, too.

"What do you know about Tori Gilbert?"

Alyssa's mouth seemed to twitch, but I couldn't lose my concentration to check it.

"She's a sister of the doppelganger and an ordinary human," the blonde replied.

Another dead end. Alyssa did have some useful info. Who was Rose? What exactly Elena is needed for in a spell? If Rose was so old, the spell must be just as ancient. It also must be rather powerful, and those two things together usually required only one specific thing. A blood sacrifice.

With the vampire population out for Elena, the Gilberts were pretty much fucked. And everything Alyssa told me still didn't explain my connection to Tori.

I sighed. The situation was quickly going from bad to worse. At least I could eliminate one threat. I got a step closer to Alyssa, staring in her eyes intensely.

"You will leave town tonight," I commanded. "You will forget everything about Gilberts, Rose's request, and you will forget that I am in LA," I thought for a moment before my tone became softer. "And you will move on with your life, finally letting the pain go. I hope that in time, you will forgive me," I let my voice drop to a whisper as I studied her empty expression. "Goodbye, Alyssa. Now leave."

Alyssa blinked, shaking her head a bit before raising her green-blue eyes at me in confusion. Then, she turned and headed to exit without looking back.

* * *

"What's the deal with Jade and Alyssa?" Tori scowled at the pair from the distance, clutching her chocolate ice-cream cone.

"Don't know, don't care," the older Salvatore studied the display of ice-cream again. "Now, what should I get, blueberry with chocolate, or raspberry with kiwi?" At Elena's disbelieving look, he shrugged. "You're right – why not both?"

"I never would have pegged you for a person who gulps down huge amounts of ice-cream," Elena said, smiling.

"Let me guess," Damon smirked at her arrogantly. "You already got me _all _figured out, the leather, the boots – I'm the ultimate bad boy in your eyes, aren't I?" his voice dropped to a mocking whisper.

"You make me sound like a judgmental bitch," Elena faltered slightly when pronouncing the word 'bitch', but overall she managed to sound risky.

"Oh, I do consider you to be one," he smirked at her scowl. "However, it's a big part of your charm."

"Did you just call my sister a bitch?" Tori decided to indulge herself in a conversation as Jade and Alyssa hugged in a loving fashion. She struggled not to greet her teeth at the affectionate display. 'You have no right to be jealous,' she chastised herself. 'Jade is a free human being, her and Alyssa obviously go way back, and you're not even supposed to _like _her that way.'

"She did the job by herself!" Damon defended himself laughingly.

"Well, I don't consider you an ultimate bad boy," Tori said bravely to the blue-eyed Salvatore. "You obviously take good care of your little sister."

"You think letting a sixteen-year-old get a tattoo accounts to 'taking good care'?" Damon threw his eyebrows up to his hairline, enjoying the way Elena spluttered all over herself in shock.

"That was a _real_ tattoo?!" The older Gilbert hollered, drawing attention from onlookers.

"Shhh, Elena," he mockingly chastised her. "You're messing with little Gilbert's plan of getting information out of me," at Tori's questioning and slightly guilty look, he smirked. "Curiosity was all over your pretty face, Skinny Jeans."

"They're not that… ugh," Damon really was unbelievable. Tori never met a person who took such a great pleasure in embarrassing other people so much. "Just… how exactly did you wind up being Jade's legal guardian?" Just as he was about to say something, she threw a warning look at him. "And no, I'm not questioning your reliability; I just want to know what happened to your parents."

"Dead," Damon said curtly, and his bored tone irked Tori a little.

"I'm… I'm sorry," she managed, looking for at least a little emotion on Damon's face and not finding any.

"It was too long ago to matter now," he stated, getting his cone with four ice-cream balls.

"I'm still sorry for your loss," Tori said quietly, looking into his eyes. And they were such beautiful eyes, too. Identical to Jade's, crystal blue ice boring into her, his gaze just as penetrating and fierce.

"Your compassion is killing me," his tone was light, but his jaw was locked as he stared at her intensely. "But thanks."

"What happened to them? If… if I may ask," Elena spoke up, looking at the Salvatore with sympathy.

"Mother died when giving birth to St –Salvatore junior, Jade," Tori didn't fail to notice the strange slip of his tongue when he said 'Salvatore'. It was almost as if he wanted to say a different name. "Father passed away when Stefan was born."

"Stefan?" Elena questioned, confused.

"Oh, right, you haven't met our brother," The older Salvatore smirked. "You must have seen him at the school, no? About this tall, Twilight-shaped hair, looking all broody?"

"We've seen him with Jade at school!" Elena exclaimed, suddenly remembering. "The one with the cute hair. _Stefan_," she tried his name on her tongue, smiling a bit as she thought back to the tall handsome boy, oblivious to the way Damon scowled at her being so enthusiastic about his brother.

"Yep, that's my little bro," he said tensely. Tori sensed that the brothers weren't too fond of each other. Or maybe Damon was being a jerk, which apparently was a usual thing for him.

"How old exactly are you?" the shorter brunette asked him lightly, wanting to distract Damon.

"Oh, I'm _very_ old," he grinned at the younger Gilbert, licking at his ice-cream enthusiastically and letting it drip all over his chin.

"And clearly, 'old' and 'adult' are _very _different things," Elena commented laughingly, reaching out to swipe at his chin without thinking how it would look like. She cleaned him with the finger, going slower and slower as their eyes met.

"Sorry," she said quietly, slowly taking her hand away. "You were all.. messy." She licked the ice-cream off of her finger, smiling embarrassedly.

"Thanks," Damon also smiled a bit, ice-cream long forgotten.

Tori felt really uncomfortable as she watched her sister and Jade's brother get all intense with each other. She hated to be the one to ruin the moment, but as she glanced to check up on Jade and found her still holding Alyssa in her arms, she decided that she needed the distraction more than her sister needed another lovesick guy.

"And how… old… exactly?" She questioned, getting them out of their private little world.

"I'm 25," Damon answered smoothly, slowly getting his eyes off Elena to focus on the younger Gilbert. "Jade's 16 and Stefan's 18."

"I'm turning 18 in two months," Elena supplied a bit of information about herself before taking a small bite of her strawberry ice-cream. "And Tori's gonna be 16 in a month."

"Ah, the sweet sixteen and the legal age," the raven-haired man spoke, smiling suggestively. "You planning on throwing a party? Because if yes, I'm inviting myself over," he winked at the Gilbert girls, causing Elena to let out a small laugh.

"I don't know how my Dad will react to an older guy showing up," Tori said, pretending to think it over. "He just might shoot you. He has a gun, you know."

"I think I'll live," Damon smiled cryptically. "And besides, it could be just me accompanying my little sis. Somehow I got a feeling you'd really like for _her _to show up."

Tori felt her face heat up immediately at the hidden meaning behind his words, and as she looked at him, he waggled his eyebrows at her. Oh God. He _so _knew about her confusing feelings towards the youngest Salvatore.

'Nope, no confusing feelings,' she interrupted that train of thought. 'I just… want to be her friend. Yeah, that's it! I want to be friends with her.' Uh-huh.

"Jade seems like a nice girl," Elena commented, a bit dryly.

"Oh, she is," Damon's eyes lighted up gleefully . However, Tori had a feeling it wasn't because he was about to brag. She felt it was quite the opposite. "Did I mention the time when she…"

"Rescued a puppy from a car? Oh, brother dearest, I don't think they want to hear that story," Jade's velvet voice sounded right before Tori's ear, and she looked back, startled. Wasn't she _just _standing with Alyssa somewhere? And speaking of whom…

"Where's Alyssa?" she asked Jade, trying to keep the edge from her voice.

"She left," Jade stated curtly, not elaborating.

"Well. How did your catching up go?"

"Good," Jade was clearly a girl of few words today. Her eyes bore into her brothers', a silent understanding passing between them before he nodded slightly. Salvatores were turning out to be weirder by the second.

"Stefan called. We're leaving," she tossed to Damon before addressing the Gilberts. "Sorry, but we gotta go. See you at school?" Tori's heart skipped a beat as Jade turned to her with a light smirk. 'Want to be her friend my ass,' she thought gloomily to herself.

"Yeah, sure," she smiled back.

"See you around, _Elena,_" so that was where Jade got her sensual drawl from, Tori thought as Damon addressed her older sister. He gave the sisters a lopsided grin as he walked backwards. "Bye, little Gilbert."

"You _do_ know I have a name?" Tori called out to him, scowling a bit.

"I don't know, I think your surname suits you." Jade studied her for a moment. "See you, Victoria Gilbert."

The Salvatore siblings left, leaving confused and flustered Gilbert girls in their wake.

"That was… strange," Elena commented as they walked in the opposite direction.

"Not strange, just… different."

"Damon's an ass, though," the older Gilbert huffed, licking her dripping ice-cream.

"He's still ridiculously hot," at Elena's wide-eyed look, she just laughed. "What? It's true!"

"I guess," the taller half-Latina agreed reluctantly. "I can say the same for his sister, by the way," she smiled slyly at Tori, and the younger Gilbert just groaned. Did _everyone _know?

"But seriously, Tori.. do you… like her?" Elena inquired cautiously, watching her youngest sibling closely.

"I don't know, alright?" Tori was flustered beyond belief. She never imagined having to have this conversation. At least it wasn't with Dad. "Maybe… just a tiny bit?" she glanced at Elena, gathering her reaction. Her older sister smiled encouragingly.

"Tori, you know better than anyone that I will never judge you for anything," she said in a calm voice, being back to the normal Elena Gilbert. "You can date whoever you like, as long as they are good for you."

"Um… why do I have a feeling you're about to talk me out of being friends with Jade?" Tori questioned warily.

"I'm not going to talk you out of anything, but…"

"Aha, so there is a 'but'."

"Yes there is a 'but', now let me talk," Elena glared at her little sister, and Tori made a zipping motion near her lips. "Jade is not who she appears to be."

"How would you know?" Tori protested at that.

"I just got this feeling from her. I think she's very smart, and she's far more adult than her _legal guardian,_" Elena imitated Damon's deep voice. "And she's… dark. She has her own agenda. I'm not saying you shouldn't get to know her, I just want you to be careful," Her older sister bit her lip, seemingly worried.

"I can take care of myself, 'Lena," Tori retorted, finishing her ice-cream. "But thanks. I will."

* * *

"You didn't get me anything?"

Tori giggled at the sight of Jeremy pouting like a five-year-old.

"If you weren't such a lazy butt, you could have went with us and gotten something for yourself," Elena tapped his nose, grinning when he scrunched it up.

"You're terrible sisters," the muscular teen grumbled, retreating to the couch with the fresh-made popcorn.

The Gilbert sisters got back from the mall a couple of minutes ago, having spent there the entire day. With it being late autumn, it was already dark outside, and the warm California air seemedto be getting chillier as the days passed.

"Oh, really, Jeremy," Elena said sarcastically, plopping down next to him. "I feel good, by the way, thanks for asking."

"You walked around in the mall all day and almost broke our couch a second ago," the dark-haired young man pointed out, smirking at his older sister. "You seem pretty okay to me."

"You're such a brat," Elena said laughingly, messing his hair up. "You know what, I think that the controller would be perfectly fine staying in my car," with that, she turned to the TV screen, pointedly ignoring a suddenly excited Jeremy.

"Wait, what?" He scooted closer to Elena, looking between his equally mischievous-looking sisters. "You got me the one I…"

"The one you've been yapping about for two weeks now? Yeah, I guess so," Tori faked disinterest, exchanging glances with Elena. The truth was, they stumbled upon the controller for Jeremy's Xbox by chance, and it had a rather appealing discount, so Elena just went with it.

"Woah! Elena, I'm so, _so _sorry, now can I please have it?" Jeremy exclaimed, getting up so fast it made Tori's head spin a little bit. The boy was serious about his gaming. How did he get so muscular, Tori would never know.

"Well aren't you eager," Elena smirked, looking up at him. "Fine, but I'll get it myself. You're not allowed near my car after the Nozu incident," she warned the tall teen, getting up from the couch. Or trying to, because the second she got up, she went down, clutching her stomach. "Aw, dang it," she swore softly. "Shouldn't have jumped at it earlier."

Tori and Jeremy were by her side in an instant, worry shining in their brown eyes.

"What happened? 'Lena?" Jeremy helped Elena in a sitting position, checking under her t-shirt for blood. Luckily, there wasn't any, and the bandages were clean, but Elena winced slightly in pain as he poked her wound.

"Jer! What the chiz?" Tori hit her brother on the shoulder lightly as his calloused boy fingers grabbed at Elena's bandages. "She's already in pain, no need to make it worse!"

"Sorry," the boy mumbled apologetically.

"It's fine, you guys," their older sister smiled at them. "Just the drawback of having my tummy being all stitched up. Really, I'm cool."

"Uh-huh," Tori said, not believing a word she said. Elena had a bit of a martyr complex, always putting others before herself, and right now the younger half-Latina was sure that her sister lied to calm them down. "Jer, you stay here, I'll bring the controllers," with that, she turned to the main entrance.

"Controllers? As in… multiple?" Jeremy asked, sitting next to Elena again.

"We couldn't have you having all the fun, now could we?" the shorter brunette grinned at her brother. "Be right back!" she called out as she left the house, grabbing Elena's car keys from the hanger.

Once outside, the tan teen drew a lungful of chill night air. Their Mom's flight was delayed, and the chances of her being home till midnight were very slim. As for Dad, he was still at the station – he called earlier to announce that they might have some lead on the guy that hurt Elena. That left only three of them alone in the house, and while Tori loved her siblings dearly, she couldn't help but feel like something was missing. She missed having the whole family around, with Dad cracking corny jokes and teasing Jeremy about girls, Mom laughing at him and listening to her and Elena complain about school or boys or friends. Mom would cook a huge dinner which was sure to be devoured by two hungry men in the house, and Tori usually was the one to help her, while Elena steered clear of the kitchen, ending up helping Dad make fun of Jeremy.

Now, gathering even the three of siblings together was hard, with Jeremy holed up in his bedroom doing whatever it was that teenage boys did – Tori so _was not _going there – Elena was either at Caroline's or Bonnie's, or doing her writing projects for school, and Tori was just sitting in a hollow dark living room, with TV as the background noise, reminiscing about times when the room was full of life and light. The only reason she begged Elena to buy three of those stupid controllers was to attempt to have a semi-normal family night. She lost hope at catching her parents together in a room, but she was determined to save what was left, even if it was barely there.

She sighed, making her way to the car. Elena was forced to park a little further than usual because of some jerk whose car was in her parking spot, and now Tori had to walk a bit on the street, and it was just her luck that the street lanterns were out.

She walked a bit faster, already cursing herself at volunteering to get the stupid controller. Jeremy would have been perfect for the job, but no, she had to go and get it herself.

Tori was torn out of her mental punishment fun as something made a snapping sound behind her. The noise resembled that of a twig being snapped under someone's footsteps. She whirled around, cautiously peering into the darkness. She felt like the character from a cheap slasher movie, wandering the streets at night, alone. Well, it wasn't technically a night yet – it was barely 9 p.m.

However, the street was so quiet and dark on a Sunday evening, and the tan brunette felt the uneasiness settle in the pit of her stomach.

She jumped almost a foot in the air when her phone went off, indicating that she got a text.

"Stupid," Tori mumbled at herself, taking out her phone and checking it while walking to the car. She got so pissed at herself she completely cut off from her surroundings, deciding to just get it over with and not dwell on anything that might go bump in the night. And that decision was quickly proving to be a particularly bad one as she stumbled into a dark hooded figure.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she raised her eyes from the illuminating screen to be paralyzed with fear. Elena's attacker was standing in front of her, and although his face was hidden from the view with the shadow of his hood, she immediately recognized him.

The half-Latina panicked and turned around, prepared to run and holler for help. She took a step only to be met with creepy stranger's broad chest again. How did he get around her so fast? That wasn't _humanly _possible.

She almost took a step in an opposite direction, determined to make it out alive when the stranger's hand shot out, grabbing her elbow in a vice grip. He was _strong, _and all thoughts of going down with a fight flew out of Tori's head. She simply didn't stand a chance against him – Tori tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but his iron-like grip didn't allow her even the slightest movements.

"Please, let me go!" She begged, horrified. "What do you want from me?!"

The stranger seemed to be staring at her intensely, and then Tori heard his low chuckles – he seemed to be amused by her. They sounded familiar. She _knew _those chuckles.

Once upon a time, she was the reason for his chuckles before she realized just what an asshole he was.

"Ryder?! What the hell?!" Forget scared: she was _furious._

_"_Tori," he said gallantly, taking off his hood and smiling at her wickedly. "Didn't your mother tell you it's dangerous to walk alone at night? Who knows what roams the streets at such an _ungodly _hour," his smirk widened at her angry attempts to get away from him.

"What the _fuck,_" she hissed at him. "Were you the one to do that to Elena?! In the woods, that was you?!" At his smug nod, she tried to hit him with her free hand. Ryder easily dodged her punch, spinning her around so she fell on the ground. Now, the fear that was previously blinded by anger was coming back to her. She got ready to scream for help, when Ryder _literally_ blurred to her at an incredible speed, grasping her by the hair and tugging on it, forcing her to look up at him. Her scream got stuck in her throat as she widened her eyes in shock. Was she going crazy? It couldn't have been possible, what he just did – how did he move so fast?!

"Look what I got here," he grinned at her evilly. "Miss-Holier-Than-Though, Hollywood Arts sweetheart down on her knees for me," he reached out to stroke her cheek with his finger, with Tori trying to resist him, but with no avail. "Those beautiful eyes," he murmured, studying her. "So deep, but I bet your throat is _deeper,_" he chuckled at himself while Tori gave him a disgusted expression.

"Pig," she spit to him, glaring. "Let me go, and you won't get into trouble. Much," she sassily added at the end.

"Oh, lemme guess, already picturing your Daddy throwing me in jail?" He roared with laughter, suddenly, before narrowing his eyes at her, pure, sudden anger radiating off of him in waves. "What if I told you that your precious Daddy could fire a thousand bullets at me and it won't even hurt me?" his tone lowered to that of a hushed whisper, his eyes taking on a crazed expression. "What if I told you I could rip apart the whole police department with my bare hands? What if I told you it wouldn't matter if they left me to rot in jail? What if I told you I couldn't even rot?" He got up in her face, grinning maniacally at her. "Because I'm already dead, sweetie, and I'm loving it." One street lamp above them flickered, shedding some light on the scene and Ryder's face. Tori screamed.

The monster kids were so afraid of, the face of every nightmare stared right into Tori's eyes, and she felt like fainting.

The whites of his eyes were completely covered with blood. There were dark maroon veins protruding from the skin underneath his eyes. However, the most horrifying thing on his deformed face was the teeth. They glistened in the warm lamp light, the canines appearing sharp and inhumanly long, his menacing smile showing them off.

"Alyssa said to bring you alive," he murmured, studying her trembling form. "One taste can't hurt…" his bloody eyes were glazed over as he stared at her pulse point, transfixed. "Probably so sweet…"

He took one look at Tori who was crying from fear by now.

"Ryder, please…" She sobbed. "Let me go, and we'll figure out how to help you. You are not this thing, Ryder," she tried again, thinking she saw some doubt in his transformed eyes. "We'll get through this, just please let me go, and we'll save you."

"Save me," he whispered, narrowing his monster eyes at her. "Who said I need saving, sweet cheeks?"

Before Tori could comprehend what was happening, a sharp pain shot through her neck as Ryder sunk his fangs in her neck. She cried out in pain, trashing in his arms as he eagerly sucked her blood. _Ryder Daniels, her ex-boyfriend, was sucking her blood with his unnatural fangs._

Tori was already slowly fading in and out of reality, and everything blurred in front of her. Ryder really knew what he was doing – he punctured her artery, and she was bleeding out like crazy while he milked it up.

"Jade, wait!" Damon? What was he doing here? Was she unconscious already? Was she dead?

Tori barely noticed a whirlwind of jet-black curls, and a second later Ryder was torn away from her, landing on a ground several meters from her with a thud. She slumped to the ground without him holding her up. Everything was spinning. Was it always so dizzy? She couldn't remember. Was she dying?

Her gaze landed on ankle-high biker boots and traveled up the dark jeans. The figure in front of her was growling, it appeared. They were angry at something. Were they angry at her? She didn't do anything, she could swear.

"I got him, Jade, take Tori!" It was funny to hear Damon's voice so far away, because it sounded so weak. Like a kitten. A kitten in a leather jacket, with a black fur. Tori thought she should giggle at that silly picture, but she couldn't find it in her to even open her mouth. And, come to think about it, why were her eyes still open? Open eyes were bad. Closed eyes were good. Dark and comfortable.

"Shit," she heard someone curse as they fell to their knees next to her. "She lost too much blood already," they placed their hands under her head, lifting it up carefully. They were trying to force a liquid down her throat? Were they trying to get her drunk? She couldn't drink. When she drank, she grinded on people, and grinding was bad. Just like holding her eyes open.

"Dammit, Gilbert, don't close your eyes! You have to stay awake!" Someone's menacing voice commanded to her, and Tori obediently opened her eyes, finding herself staring up at Jade. Jade with a face of a monster, holding her wrist to Tori's mouth. "Good, now drink," she commanded again, her voice cold. Tori felt a bit hurt at that. Wasn't she even the slightest bit upset at her dying? It was a big deal for most people.

How the hell was that even relevant when Jade had _the same monster face as Ryder?!_

Tori's eyes went almost impossibly wide as she struggled against Jade's hold on her.

"I can see you're getting better," Jade commented dryly. "Stop wiggling around and drink if you don't won't to make the necrology list in LA Times the next week."

Tori's blood-deprived brain slowly caught on what Jade was saying. Her wrist on brunette's lips. The taste of coppery dribbling down her throat, the liquid warm and thick. _She was drinking Jade's blood._

"Tori, please," Jade sensed her discomfort and tried a softer tone. "You need to do it. Trust me." However, the half-Latina was too busy freaking out to trust anyone at the moment. She struggled again to break free from the youngest Salvatore.

"What's going on?" Another Salvatore appeared in Tori's vision, looking down on her with worry. At least someone there gave a crap about her.

"She won't stop wigging out at me," Jade stated calmly, but her eyes were anything but calm. "Where's the fucker?"

"Snapped his neck," Damon answered curtly. Tori fought even more at hearing that. Damon killed Ryder? Who the hell were these people, assassins?

"Goddammit, Tori," Damon murmured, catching her chin and forcing her to look at her. His pupils started doing that weird thing, just like Jade's when they first met, and… and… Tori's mind went completely blank. The only thoughts that were here were Damon's words, rolling around in her brain before being imprinted in her consciousness. She heard Jade shouting at him something like: 'she can't be compelled', but it was quickly replaced by calmness and quiet.

"You are not afraid," Damon's soothing voice stated in her head, and she believed him. She wasn't afraid. "You will stop fighting and drink Jade's blood." Of course she was going to do that. She would do everything he told her to do, because that was her entire existence. "You are going to be okay." 'Yes, Damon', her mind said dully over and over again as she calmed down in Jade's arms and eagerly gulped down her blood. All the worry, the concern, the emotions left her as she was floating in her mind, trapped and free at the same time, not having a care in the world because Damon was there and he knew what to do. And she believed him.

* * *

_Sooooo... Apparently, Tori is perfectly compellable. Compellable... Is that even a word?... Anyway, it appears as though Jadey is off her game. Why is that? Let me know your thougts either in the reviews or PMs - I'm curious to see just what your wild imagination might come up with :)_


	7. Best Served Cold pt3

_I present you the final part of "Best Served Cold" episode!_

_Thank you all for the amazing reviews you leave. Enjoy your read! :)_

**_Jade is forced to feed Tori her blood, resulting in some interesting side effects. The Salvatore siblings receive the infromation that leaves them with even more questions. A new enemy is uncovered, and they have a surprising ally on their side._**

* * *

"I think recently they issued a new law concerning stalking. It's kinda illegal, you know."

I rolled my eyes at Damon who appeared out of nowhere behind my back, well, he thought he was so stealthy, but I could hear him couple of minutes ago, making his way through the woods.

"I'm not stalking. I'm… observing," I said, my eyes trained on Gilberts' residence. A nice two-story house, typical for LA suburbs. The whole street was quiet, save for occasional dog bark or bird chirp. One side of the street was taken by houses, where on the other side there was a small forest, where Damon and I were currently getting our creep on. I remembered time when the entire area was taken over by the woods. I thought I even recognized the place where the Gilberts' house was located as the one where I had my favorite oak. Then again, it was so long ago I could be imagining the entire thing.

'Uh-huh,' Damon stated smartassedly, clearly not buying it. "Observing what exactly?"

"Were you listening to a _word _I said?" I finally tore my eyes away from Gilberts' front door to narrow them at him. "The entire vampire population is out for Elena's blood. If this Rose person managed to convince _Alyssa _to be her little lackey, soon there would be even more big bad vampires trying to get the Gilbert." I ended my tirade, turning to watch the house again.

"And what's the master plan? Standing there every night and fighting off the losers?" He mocked me, also looking over the white-colored house.

"While I'm figuring out my next move – yes," I stated calmly.

"Wait, _your _next step?" My older brother turned to study my profile.

"Did I fucking stutter?" I glared at him. He glared back.

"Oh, I heard you alright, I just didn't get the meaning," he hissed at me.

"It means you and your brother stay out of it," I said slowly, as if explaining physics to the mentally challenged. "Emotions will get you killed."

"I'm not some kind of an animal," the older Salvatore huffed at me. "I can control myself, you know."

"No you can't," I argued lightly, and I could tell my calm demeanor was pissing him off. "You're _drawn _to Elena. She makes you feel too much – she will tear you apart and het you killed, and I can't have that"

"Elena doesn't make me do anything," he rose his voice, and I shot him a sharp look, indicating he kept it down.

"Sure she doesn't, Damon. You may not want to protect her with everything you have – _yet, _but one thing is as clear as day to me," I got closer to him with a menacing look in my eyes. "_you already don't want her to die._"

_He _eyed me cautiously like I was crazy.

"You also don't want her to die," he pointed out.

"For entirely different reasons, brother," I smirked at him lightly. "She's apparently a key in a powerful blood sacrifice, and that practically spells out 'screwed' to human and supernatural kind alike," I glanced at him. "As long as Rose wants her, I want her more."

"Ah, of course," judging by his mocking tone, I wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "How silly of me to think that the Great Jade West is anything but selfless. Except you aren't," he said with a jibe at me, staring me down accusingly. "You are just as selfish as I am, but I always knew that. What I didn't expect is for you to turn out to be such a _hypocrite"_, he chuckled at me humorlessly. "You got that right. You are ordering us to stay away from Elena since we have too much feelings involved, and yet here you are, the one with the unneeded emotions." He cocked his head to the side, his crystal clear eyes glistening with anger. "Don't feed me that crap when I'm perfectly aware of the real reason for you standing here." He took a step to me, dropping his voice to whisper. "_You _don't' want _Tori _to die, and for completely selfish reasons at that."

I was ready to snap his neck at that point, consequences be damned, when the mentioned girl opened the front door, stepping out of her house and breathing in deeply.

"What the hell is she doing outside?" I murmured to myself, ignoring Damon's smug smile. "Why can't she keep her ass seated for just one second?"

"Ass like that – gotta move," Damon remarked, smirking at his cleverness.

I just stared at him.

"She's _sixteen_," I reminded my perverted brother blankly. He shrugged.

"I'm 173," he stated. "Any hot-looking girl is still an infant compared to me."

"Yeah, the _human_ ones," I replied, not taking my eyes off of the youngest Gilbert. She was walking slowly to her sister's car, deep in thoughts. Something snapped, startling her, and she jumped around, looking wary.

"Is that why you don't like humans? You think it's icky?" Damon inquired curiously. I shushed him.

"There's someone out there, watching her," I said cautiously, and the older Salvatore sobered up immediately, ready to attack.

"What should we do? You said the girl is resistant to compulsion," he looked around, trying to locate the possible threat. "I didn't even try to compel her back in the woods 'cause of that. Just came up with some bullshit excuse, sending her away so she won't see me feeding Elena my blood."

"I don't know," I said tensely. Something was about to go down, I was sure of that. But how did we rescue Gilbert without being exposed?"

"I got it," Damon glanced at me. "I'll just come up to her, and whoever it is won't try anything." I shook my hand no at his idiotic plan.

"First, you can't be sure about that, and second," I grabbed his arm as he prepared to leave. "And even if she won't get jumped, it's too much Salvatores for her in one day. We can't have her growing suspicious.

"Okay, well, what should we do?" The blue eyed man ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated.

Just as I was about to say that maybe we were being paranoid, Tori collided with a guy un a dark hoodie.

"Who the hell is that?" Damon hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"No idea, but I doubt he's here to talk about our savior Jesus Christ," I gritted through my teeth.

As he revealed his vampiric abilities, blurring past Tori and blocking her path again, I was proven to be right.

"Vampire," Damon bit out, scowling.

"Yup," I said, watching the exchange. "And someone she knows. He's a newbie," I commented, thinking.

"Dammit," my brother cursed softly beside me. "We can't just barge in there. We have to wait, but I hate waiting," he said forcefully.

Under any other circumstances, I would have agreed with him. Hell, I would be even surprised and proud of Damon being so levelheaded about things, going so far as suggesting we wait it out.

Bu all thoughts of saving out cover flew out the window as the bloody bastard bit Tori, making her scream out in pain. Everything faded away, leaving only me and the red hot rage, bubbling in my chest and bursting outside in a growl.

I faintly heard Damon scream for me to wait, but it fell on deaf ears as I flashed over to the pair, grabbing the fucker by his hood and throwing him a good four meters away from Tori.

Kill him. Rip his heart out. Make him suffer.

My demon howled inside, gleefully, urging me to rip the fucktard apart, shred him to pieces.

Damon shouted at me, getting me back to Earth out of my revenge-filled haze. I dropped to my knees next to Tori, and that was when it hit me.

The blood. Sweet, heavy scent surrounded the air and pulled me in. I blinked. That had never happened before. I never was so transfixed by it, ever. But now, the scent was in my head, suffocating me and urging me to drink the dying girl before me dry.

"Shit," I cursed at myself, suddenly snapping back to reality. She was actually _dying. _Her heartbeat was slowing down as blood poured out of her artery. That damn Ryder boy bit to kill, not to feed. What a stupid fuck.

I vamped out, biting down on my wrist, hard, and making sure I punctured the vein. My hand lifted her head gently as I placed my wrist to her lips. "She lost too much blood already," I mused out loud, watching as her glazed-over eyes struggled to focus on me. Then, they slowly started to close, life fading away from them.

No.

No no no.

She couldn't die. She just couldn't

All my fear, guilt and panic mixed in my chest, transforming into one emotion I was most familiar and comfortable with. Anger.

"Dammit, Gilbert, don't close your eyes! You have to stay awake!" I shouted at her, parting her lips with my wrist and pressing it harder against her mouth. If she closed her eyes now, she wouldn't open them again.

Her eyes fluttered open as the blood finally started to get in her system

"Good, now drink," I ordered, still revved up with anger. My voice may have sounded more heartless that I intended.

Tori's eyes flashed with hurt at my tone, and then immediately filled with horroor as she ran them over my still vamped out face. Fuck.

She started trashing in my grip, eyes wide with fear. Well, if she was strong enough to start fighting, at least the blod was working.

"I can see you're getting better. Stop wiggling around and drink if you don't want to make the necrology list in LA times next week" I stated sarcastically. She still wouldn't comply, trying desperately to get away from me. I glanced at her wound. It seemed closed, but her life was still in danger, with the giant pool of the blood she had lost surrounding us.

"What's going on?" Damon landed near me, worried sick, and his eyes widened slightly at the amount of Tori's blood. I spared him a quick glance, and he didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. Why was her blood affecting only me, and doing it so strongly I couldn't keep my fangs in check?

I explained Tori being all freaked out, asking him where the boy was and nodding, satisfied, when hearing that he was immobilized for the time being. Tori, however, seemed to freak out even more when my brother mentioned snapping prick's neck.

Damon clearly had enough of Gilbert fighting against me saving her, because he caught her chin, staring in her eyes.

"It's no use, she can't be compelled!" I snapped angrily at him, but Damon being Damon, he didn't listen.

And ,surprisingly, that turned out to be a good thing. I watched, perplexed, as Tori was successfully compelled, drinking my blood like her life depended on it. Which, it kinda did at the moment.

"What the hell," I stated blankly, gazing at Gilbert.

"I compelled her," Damon breathed out, suspicion all over his face. "And you couldn't?" He turned his head to me and I shook my head no.

"Are you sure you did it right?..." he drawled slowly, squinting at me.

"Not the time, Damon," I got out, taking my wrist away from Tori's full lips which were back to their original pink color instead of deadly grey.

"J-Jade?" Gilbert slowly sat up, confused. She looked around, her eyes widening when she noticed the blood puddle, and then doing so even more as she saw her bloodied clothes.

"What happened?"

I blinked at her calm, albeit confused tone, when something registered in my brain. She was under compulsion. Damon told her not to be afraid. And she wasn't.

"Tori," I tried, touching her arm. She raised her calm chocolate eyes at me. It was unnerving how grounded she appeared. Alright, it was time to test something.

"Forget everything that's happened here," I stated, gazing deep in her eyes.

She stared back, studying my eyes before looking over my shoulder to observe the scene before us.

"Um, sorry jade, but something like that is kinda hard to just lock out of my mind," Gilbert commented. Then, confusion took over her delicate features as she frowned. "I was almost killed by my ex-boyfriend, who also happened to be some kind of a monster, and then you," she pointed at me, "_also_ a monster, saved my life. And I've never felt more peaceful in my entire life," her hand shot up to her neck, feeling for a wound which was gone thanks to my blood. "My neck," she gazed back up at me, disbelief in her eyes. "It's completely healed. I was bleeding to _death_ a minute ago, how is that possible?"

I just looked at her, not knowing what to say. While she was trying to comprehend the events that took place, I was having my own meltdown.

She almost died. She was bleeding out, her body growing weaker in my arms as seconds passed, and for the first time in so long, I was completely terrified of losing someone. And now, as anger and adrenaline faded from my veins, I was slammed with the realization that Damon was one hundred percent absolutely right.

_I didn't want her to die._

"Sorry for meddling with your brain, sweetheart, but I had to do it to save your life," my brother called out, smiling at her. I could detect a hint of pure relief in his voice, even though he tried to cover it up with his usual bravado.

"What?" Tori turned to look at him, cocking her head to the side, confused.

"Oh, I compelled you. You know, this mind control thing we vampires have," Damon replied, shrugging.

"V-Vampires?" Tori stammered, widening her already wide eyes to an impossible level.

"Yup," the rave-haired man took several steps to the brunette, sighing dramatically as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "And as I previously mentioned, I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna have to do it again."

"Wait," I found myself stopping him. Damon and Tori glanced at me, my older brother raising one eyebrow impatiently. "I…"

"What?" he snapped at me. "I'm kinda in the middle of protecting our asses here, woman."

"I know, just…." I moved my eyes to Tori who was looking back at me, and that was when it hit me.

I absolutely_ hated_ the idea of her being compelled. Shit. Damon was so right.

"We'll deal with your existential crisis later, lil sis," Damon got out, irritated, before turning to Gilbert again, giving her a fake smile. "Alrighty then, little Gilbert," he bended slightly so he could look directly into her eyes. Tori froze, caught in his hypnotizing gaze. "You will forget everything that's happened out here. You got lost in your thoughts, and that's why it took you so long to come back. Now go home, get rid of your bloodied clothes immediately, do not question where the blood came from, and don't let others see it." Just as he was about to let her go, I flashed over to them, breaking his concentration.

"Dammit, Jade!" He cursed at me as Tori blinked her eyes, shaking herself out of the trance.

"Tell her to be extra careful for the next 24 hours," I said tensely to him, my jaw muscles working. He narrowed his eyes at me before an understanding passed in them. I watched as he worked his compulsion on her once again, my eyes never leaving her expressionless face.

"You will not under any circumstances put your life in danger for exactly 24 hours," my brother said slowly. "Your survival instincts just kicked into overdrive for the day. Whatever happens, _do not _let yourself die," he glanced at me, checking for my approval. I nodded, my face still tense. "Now go," he whispered, and we blurred to the woods, leaving the confused girl behind.

"You were right," I said gravely as we stopped at the car Damon stole from somewhere. He turned to me, not understanding what I was getting at.

"I'm always right, care to pinpoint the exact moment?"

"She's special," I stated tensely. Damon gave me his full attention then, looking impressed at me finally coming clean. I cleared my throat before continuing: "When he touched her, something just... snapped inside me. And when I watched her blood seep out of her…"I clenched my jaw, looking murderous. "Fucking Alyssa's lapdog."

"Well," Damon half-smirked, circling the car and stopping at the trunk. "You have your chance to retaliate," he said mischievously, lifting the hood. I smirked back at him before looking inside and finding Ryder laying there, his neck at an awkward angle.

"You always knew how to cheer the girl up, brother," I let the richness of my accent flow into the words, staring down at the pathetic newbie with glee.

"For a compliment like that, I'll let you off the hook with this awful pronunciation," Damon retorted back. "Besides," he added, also eyeing the captive, "you sound much more menacing that way."

"I couldn't agree more," I replied back, grabbing Ryder's body and blurring to the passenger side of the car, propping him up against the door. We stood near, looking at the temporary dead teenager.

"Now we wait."

"Looks like we don't have to wait for too long," Damon stated as Ryder's fingers twitched, once, twice. Then he suddenly sat up, gasping and looking around wildly.

"Let the fun begin," I whispered, smirking, and Damon's grin matched mine.

* * *

"Who the fuck are you?" Ryder demanded, scrambling to his feet.

"You know," Damon started, slowly making his way to him. "You ask too much questions considering you just got your neck snapped. I say you sit back, keep quiet and cooperate," he said, fake glee in his voice.

"Like hell I'm doing that," the prick grunted at my brother, blurring past him and going for the woods. However, my hand clutching his heart stopped him from proceeding with his initial idea.

"How rude," I tsked at him, smiling sweetly. "Gentlemen don't leave a lady hanging," I took my hand out of his chest, letting him fall to his knees as he clutched the slowly closing wound in his chest. "And I'm far from being done with you, darling." I observed the way the smoke was coming from the burnt skin on my hand. Vervain. What a clever boy.

"What… do you… want?" He got out, breathless. I nodded at Damon, and he grabbed the boy by the collar wordlessly, dragging him back to the car and slamming him into the passenger door.

"Well," I drawled, licking his blood off my finger and feeling the vervain sting my tongue. "I can't exactly compel you since you've been drinking vervain, which," I flashed to him, studying him through narrowed eyes, "is a particularly interesting thing in itself, but more on that later. As for what I want," I got up, turning my back on him and walking around a bit as I spoke. "I want to know just what exactly do you need Tori Gilbert for, and what is your connection to Alyssa." I faced him again, smirking. "You wouldn't say no to a pretty girl, now would you?"

"Fuck you, bitch," he spit out, glaring at me.

"Can you believe this boy?" I asked Damon, bored. He shrugged.

"You_ are_ kind of a bitch when you want to be," he remarked. I just flipped him off, turning to observe the jackass.

"So… Ryder, is it?" I asked in a mocking confusion. "What should I do with you? I can't exactly compel you. Now, I _could_ get you back to my place, drain the vervain from your system by bleeding you dry, yadda yadda yadda," I watched with satisfaction as fear quickly passed in his eyes. "But I've been kinda against the whole torturing thing lately with the help of my brother," Damon made a chocking sound behind me, and I quickly corrected myself. "The other one. Now, this one," I pointed at the raven-haired Salvatore who wiggled his fingers at Ryder in a mocking greeting, "He's one of the most ruthless motherfuckers I've known, and trust me, I've seen plenty in my lifetime." I got closer to the freshly-turned teenager again, cocking my head to the right as I studied him. "So, what's it gonna be? You gonna come clean, or we're proceeding with' bleeding you dry' activity?"

"You can't force anything out of me, and I'm not spilling anything. Kill me for all I care," Ryder stared at me with hatred in his eyes.

"Oh," I drawled in a deep voice, mocking him. "How unbelievably brave," I stated dramatically, before blurring to him at a vampire speed, gripping him by his throat. "And incredibly stupid," I whispered in his ear before lifting him up in the air, my hand squeezing his throat even tighter. He choked, prying my fingers open and realizing that was a vain effort.

"Listen up, emo-boy," I said icily. "I am pretty used to getting what I want, and I'm not one to care what needs to be done so I can get it," I pressed on his pulse point, and he trashed harder. "And trust me, you don't want to die," I lowered my hand slightly so his feet almost reached the ground. He strained to stand on his own, but I held him just out of the range. "You are what, a week old? Practically a newborn, and let me tell you, mate, the vampire life has _so much_ to offer. The blood, the kills, the sex, living without a care in the world, doing whatever the _hell _you want, and there are no consequences because _we're already dead_," I let my voice drop to a seductive whisper at the end of the sentence, lowering Ryder gradually so he finally was able to stand on his feet. "So we could do it like this. I let you live, you spill everything you know. What do you say?" Ryder seemed to finally figure out that I possessed enough power and desire to kill him for good, so he nodded eagerly, still choking in my grip. So typical. It was all brave words and sacrifices until the true power came out to play. And then, bam – they submit to you, shaking like the pathetic cowards they are.

"Oh, so you agree!" I exclaimed with fake enthusiasm, releasing him. He dropped to his knees once again, coughing violently. "But there's just one slight hitch, dear," I smirked before kicking him with vampire strength. Ryder smashed into car, leaving a huge dent on its side and doubling over in pain. "I don't like you, and you pissed me off," I hissed, grabbing him again.

"Now, I'll show you a technique I learnt in Russia from a good friend," I said to him conversationally as I threw the car door open, placing his hand at the opening. Ryder quickly caught on to what was about to go down, because he squirmed to get away. With him being a newbie and me being the Original, that was a really dumb move on his part. "You know, apparently, their mafia uses it on those who owe them money," I continued, holding the door wide with my hand and pressing his arm against the car with my body weight. "A very fun game, not so fun for those on the receiving end, though. There are some rules as well. I ask you a question, you answer. For each unacceptable answer, this happens," with that, I snapped the door closed, and Ryder howled in pain as his fingers were completely shattered by the force. I opened the door again, smiling at him wickedly. "Told you it was fun!" Damon chuckled behind me, observing the scene and clearly enjoying himself. "I get to decide if the answer is acceptable or not, which is a particularly unfortunate predicament for you. I was told I had anger issues," I grinned at the shaking Ryder. "First question. What the hell does Alyssa need Tori for?"

"I don't know!" he exclaimed. I growled, and the door smashed his fingers again. He whimpered. "You know what's my favorite part in this game?" Ryder was too preoccupied at the moment to acknowledge my question, so I just assumed he wanted to know. "Since you're a vampire, your fingers heal back, which means I get to break them over and over again, and you will feel _each and every one of these bad boys,_" I slammed the door again, and he screamed out. "Let's try again. What do you need from Gilberts?"

"I swear, I don't know! All I know is Alyssa needs Tori for something!"

"Tori? Not Elena?" I asked sternly, ready to slam the door closed again.

"Yes," he nodded rapidly, taking a deep breath. "Tori, it has something to do with you, she didn't tell me anything else," he shook, closing his eyes as he waited for me to break his bones again.

"What about Elena?" Damon appeared near us, watching Ryder.

"I don't know, man," the boy said pleadingly, shaking. "She, I guess she needs both of them, but she was hell-bent on getting Tori from the day one."

"And when exactly was the day one?" I inquired.

"It was three weeks ago," he got out, twitching his fingers as they healed. "She turned me and said I need to help her with Gilbert sisters. In exchange I was gonna get the daylight ring," he explained, now breathing normally.

The fucking daylight ring. Alyssa wasn't supposed to know how to get one. I got it for her and her mother as a gift, but I never gave them the spell that was needed to make one. Plus, there were very few witches who agreed to work with vampires, let alone allow them to wander under the sun, protected by the magical artifact. She had a witch working for her, and as far as I could tell, the witch wasn't Good Witch Glinda by a long shot.

I narrowed my eyes at Ryder relaxing and slammed the door again. He groaned, cursing.

"Does Alyssa drink vervain too?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Y-yes." That bitch. Props for the award-winning performance at the mall, though. But how did she know I had an ability to compel vampires?

"Why is she drinking it?" I demanded from the newborn.

"She said it protects her from… well, I'm guessing, you," he got out.

"How does she know I'm able to compel vampires?" I growled at him, gripping the door harder for a good measure. His eyes widened at that.

"I-I don't know, I didn't even know it was possible until now!" The dark-haired boy begged, his eyes on the car door that cracked under my vice-like grip. "Look, I don't even know who you are, okay," he said, rushing, "all I know is Tori somehow is supposed to help Alyssa in defeating her long-time enemy, a girl named Jade. She wouldn't go into details, and I didn't want them, I just wanted to be able to walk in the sun and then I was gonna bail. She's kinda crazy," he added at the end of his speech.

"Yeah, tell me about it," I said darkly, deep in thoughts. Alyssa was going to use Tori to kill me, but how? I was literally immortal. Indestructible. The only thing that could have killed me was destroyed by me and my family a long time ago.

I shifted my gaze to Ryder again who shrunk under my scrutinizing eyes.

"What else do you know?"

"Um," wheels turned in his head as he thought something over. "Alyssa mentioned that Elena is a doppelganger of someone named Katherine. She was gonna hand her over to Rose after she dealt with you and Tori," he gulped as I narrowed my eyes at him. "That's all I know, I swear!"

I studied him. The boy was obviously telling the truth. Ryder valued his worthless ass too much to try anything funny, and the term 'loyalty' clearly wasn't present in his vocabulary.

"Oh, I believe you, boy," I smirked and slammed the door shut, this time getting his hand out of the way and standing up. "I still have some use for you," he perked up at that, silently thanking his lucky stars that he was gonna live after all. "I think Alyssa needs to get a little message from us, don't you think?" I addressed the older Salvatore who was keeping quiet almost the entire time. He smirked at me, knowing what I meant.

"Sure," Ryder got up shakily, dusting off his clothes. "Tell me whatever it is you need her to hear, and I'll pass it over."

"I always had this philosophy," I stared at Ryder, smiling wide. "I believe in killing a messenger." His eyes filled with fear, and he prepared to flee, but I stopped him once again, tearing into his chest and squeezing his heart. "You know why?" He was about to protest, his expression terrified. "It _sends_ a _message_," I concluded, grabbing his heart and ripping it out, watching as his body turned grey and he slumped to the ground, nothing but a marble corpse.

"You're creepy," Damon stated as I carelessly threw the bloodied heart away. I shrugged.

"Thanks, I try," I grabbed the corpse, dumping it into the trunk once again and flashing to the driver's seat. "Hop in," I turned the ignition key, smirking. "There is a delivery for Ms. Vaughn, and I'd _hate_ for her to not get it in time."

* * *

Tori was confused beyond belief as she stuffed her dirty, sticky shirt and a jacket in a plastic trash bag. She felt that under normal circumstances, she should be seriously freaked out by the dried blood, but all she wanted to do was to get rid of it and forget about it.

And if she thought about it for a moment, which she for whatever reason couldn't do, she would be going out of her mind trying to figure out just how exactly her clothes ended up being the way they were now.

Elena and Jeremy stared at her like she was crazy when she showed up at the front door, no controllers in hand and looking messed up. Luckily, Elena couldn't move too much and Tori was able to shake their questioning gazes off, mumbling some pathetic excuse as she ran up the stairs. The only though racing through her mind was clear as day – she couldn't show her state to her siblings. Now, she was locked in her room, with Jeremy pounding on her door as she erased any evidence of her disheveled state.

"Tori? C'mon, open the door! I just wanna check if you're okay!" Jeremy's worried voice floated through the door. The youngest Gilbert pushed the bag inside her clothes, smoothing out her pajamas before taking a deep breath and going for the door. As she opened it, she had forgotten already about the things she was doing a second ago. So when Jeremy quickly walked in, grabbing her shoulders and looking her over with concern, she stared back at him with just as much confusion.

"Uh, Jer? " When he didn't even acknowledge her, walking around Tori in circle, she grew from concerned to suspicious. "Did you get high again? I was gone for like two minutes, how'd you manage to light one up with Elena present?"

Jeremy then raised his worried eyes at hers, and for a while they just stood there, with matching confusion on their faces.

"You came back looking all wild, completely blew us off and locked in your room," her brother stated slowly, growing more concerned. "And then you didn't answer when I knocked. We thought someone jumped you on the street," the brunette boy ran his hand through his hair, trying to make any sense out of the situation. "Tori, what the hell?"

"What do you mean? I went to get those stupid toys, came back, and just went to my room to change!" Tori exclaimed defensively, throwing her arms in the air.

"But that's the thing, Tor, you didn't bring anything back with you," Jeremy reminded slowly, searching her eyes for any recognition. His sister just stared back, not comprehending what he was saying.

"Did she open the door?" Elena called out cautiously from the living room, and then they heard shuffling and a quiet groan as the older Gilbert got up. "I'm coming up!" She shouted again.

"'Lena, you need to rest! I got this!" Jeremy shouted back before turning to observe his younger sister again. "Tori?" He tried, watching her perplexed face.

The youngest Gilbert was busy racking her brain. She _knew _she simply went to the car, got the controllers and made it safely back home. Then she changed in her room. But Jeremy claimed she came back bare handed. Dang it, she must've been lost in her thoughts completely and just took a walk, forgetting about the toys.

"Sorry, Jer, guess I just was deep in thoughts," she smiled reassuringly at her brother who didn't seem to be buying it. "I'm okay, see?" she spun around in place, showing that she was all good and in one piece.

"Alright…" Jeremy narrowed his eyes at her, clearly not believing her but deciding to let it go for the time being. "Are you sure you're not the one who got high?"

Tori hit his shoulder instead of answering. Hard.

"Owie!" Jeremy whimpered, grasping the offended body part. "How'd you get so strong?"

"I didn't, you're just a wuss," Tori huffed, crossing her arms. She suddenly felt wiped out. "I think I'm gonna head to bed. Sorry I scared you like that with my weirdness," she smiled. ""Hold off Elena tonight, 'kay? I'm really tired, and I'm not in the mood for more interrogation." As Jeremy was about to protest, she pointed her finger in his face warningly. "You owe me, Jeremy Gilbert."

He sighed, defeated.

"Fine. But this isn't over," he said to her, trying to be menacing as he backed away.

"Yeah yeah," Tori just waived at him dismissively, walking to her room and closing the door behind her. She rubbed her face, letting out a tired sigh. Everything felt weird somehow. She was tired mentally, but her body felt like electricity was running through her veins. She felt so _alive. _

Tori shrugged, not wanting (not being able to?) question anything right now. The shower was what she needed to clear her thoughts.

As she got out of the bathroom and changed back into her sleeping attire, her phone ringed behind her, startling her slightly. She remembered getting a text from someone earlier. Did she read it? She grabbed her phone from the bed, checking the caller ID. Cat.

"Hey Cat!" Tori tried to inject her usual enthusiasm in her voice as much as possible.

"_Hiiiiii!"_ Cat's bubbly voice reached her ears, and she smiled, relaxed. At least Cat was the same Cat.

"What's up?" She walked to her bed, ready to lay down when some force drew her to the window. She couldn't explain it even if she tried – it was a pull, and she couldn't resist it. She absentmindedly listened to Cat bubble about something her new roommate Sam did as she peered into the dark street, trying to figure out what called out to her.

"_Tori? Are you here?_" She was snapped back to the phone conversation as Cat grew worried and quiet.

"Yeah, sorry Kitty cat," she replied soothingly, looking away from the window. Stupid, she thought to herself as she shook her head slightly. Nothing was out there.

"_Well, and then Sam ate it. Can you imagine_?" Tori nodded at the phone before slapping her forehead. There were actual words needed, Cat couldn't see her!

"Yeah, I actually can," she chuckled at her red-haired friend lightly. The brunette looked out the window again, this time catching a glimpse of someone familiar. Jade?

The previous pull grew ten times stronger, urging Tori to just jump out her window to get outside. What was this girl doing to her?

"_Anyway, I just wanted to see if you were okay. I had a bad feeling tonight, my tummy hurt and I was worried about you_," Cat grew timid again, and Tori wondered what was up with her friend. Now, everyone knew Cat was… well, not particularly normal. Then again, no one was normal in Hollywood Arts. But lately, Cat was too weird even for her.

"I'm – I'm alright, don't worry," Tori said into speaker, her eyes following one unmistakable black-haired girl as she slowly made her way somewhere, coming closer to Tori's house. "Look, Cat, there's something I need to do, I'll call you back, okay?"

"_'Kay 'kay, but you don't have to call me back, I'm having a study session with Aly,"_ Cat chirped happily on the other side.

"Okay – wait, who's Aly?" Tori asked, intrigued. Did it sound like a boy's name? It did a little.

_"She's here already, okay, byyyyyeeeee!"_ The line went dead and Tori just stared at her phone with a raised eyebrow. The red-headed girl was random, that was for sure.

She glanced out her window again, watching as Jade stopped, looking around. The girl was relatively new to the city, so maybe she was lost? She looked lost.

"Hey Jade!" Tori shouted, waiving her hand giddily at the girl. Wow, way to be a moron, Tori, she scolded herself.

The blue-eyed girl looked up quickly, immediately finding Tori's eyes with her own and smirking a little.

"Gilbert," she stated calmly. "Why do I always stumble into you?"

"Well, I do live here," Tori called out, smirking back. "What's your excuse?"

"I hate to admit it, but I might be lost," Jade replied easily, looking around a bit before shifting her gaze back to Tori.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," the tan half-Latina retreated further into her room, quickly changing into her jeans and walking out. The living room was empty already – Jeremy and Elena must've decided to call it a night as well. She threw on her sneakers and ran out the door, slowing down a bit as she walked from the house. She didn't want to seem too eager. Even if she felt that way.

* * *

What in the bloody hell am I doing here?

After we dumped the body on Alyssa's lawn – she wasn't hard to locate since she moved into her original mansion back from 1700's – Damon and I parted ways. I claimed I wanted to make sure compulsion was still intact. My smartass of a brother shrugged, smiling slyly and stating I should get the girl a proper dinner before getting in her pants.

I might have snapped his arm broken.

Now, I was back to the Gilberts' street, surveying the house. As I lurked in the shadows of the trees, I felt Tori reach out to me through our connection. Shit, how could I forget about this? She drank my blood, and now she was bounded to me for a day. Now she was drawn to me, feeling my presence when I was near. What was worse is that her sexual attraction to me was going to intensify. Why, why everything with the vampires must be about sex?

I just hoped her initial attraction to me wasn't strong, because if it was, she was going to try to jump my bones the instant she saw me.

Oh well. Now's the best time to test it as any, I guess.

I flashed to the street while Tori was preoccupied with the call. Even without looking at her, I could sense her notice me. I felt her gaze on me the entire time I was walking, and my skin was sizzling.

I really wished I could thank my mother right now for not making the blood tie mutual when a human drank from a vampire. Even without the unneeded blood connection this girl got under my skin. I silently vowed to myself that I would never drink Tori's blood under any circumstances. The feeling would be too intense, and I might end up doing something I regretted later.

Plus, there was a whole other deal of me drinking her dry due to the fact that her blood was apparently a drug for me. Fuck. Four days in this city, and already I had more questions that in my entire existence.

"Hey Jade!" God, she was such a dork. All happiness and smiles, waiving at me rapidly. Never in a million years would I have guessed I'd be attracted to someone like that.

There, I said it. I was attracted to her. Why not? The girl was easy on eyes. Actually, she could be gorgeous if she wanted to. I could just imagine her in a deep purple gown, her brunette locks cascading down her shoulders as she beamed her award-wining smile, lighting up the entire room. She could be easily mistaken for someone of royal blood, and if I met her five-six centuries ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to proclaim her my queen.

But that was before, and it was now. And now, she was opening her door, looking cute in her simple wardrobe consisting of jeans and a long-sleeved dark green shirt, her face free of make-up and somehow even more beautiful in the moonlight.

It was now, and I couldn't afford to be feeling anything.

I drew in a deep breath, noting that she was fresh out of the shower. There was unmistakable pure Tori scent in the air under the shower gels and shampoo, undeniably sweet and oh so _mouthwatering. _

"And how exactly did you end up lost?" I was torn out of my bad, bad thoughts as Tori looked me over. I observed her eyes growing slightly darker as her pupils dilated with lust, but other than that, she looked the same. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment in my chest before I chastised was a good thing she wasn't feeling anything strong toward me before drinking my blood, because if she did, I'd be on the ground with her straddling me.

I gulped. Bad, bad thoughts indeed.

"I got wazzed off at Damon and got out of the car," I said nonchalantly, scrutinizing her. She looked like she didn't remember anything that went down not so far from us. But I did. I remembered her dying in my arms, I remembered her eyes growing lifeless, and I remembered how much it hurt seeing her so terrified of me.

"Wow," she stated, giggling. "Your family relationships are something else."

"Tell me about it," I continued to study her, still thinking, hoping she remembered at least something. I didn't even know why the hell I wanted her to remember. She was better off without it, she was better off without _me_ in her life. Her human life that she was destined to live for good and solid eighty years, peacefully passing away surrounded by kids and family.

But how I ached for her to remember. For her to know that I saved her life, and that I was a monster she didn't have to be scared of. That I was there, holding her close to my chest and praying she made it out alive.

I wanted her to know all of this, because after all these years I suddenly got a glimmer of hope that I would be accepted, and I couldn't have that. She won't accept this, and even if she did, she shouldn't. I wasn't going to drag her into my world of eternal damnation.

"Actually, I think I figured out where I am," I said, distancing myself from her. A frown took over her features as she physically felt me shutting down our blood bond. Damn it all to hell. Why did I give her my blood? Damon's would've done the trick. "I'll just go up to the highway and call Damon to pick me up. Been dodging his calls for some time now, he's probably worried sick."

"Uh, sure," she shook her head slightly, her damp curls falling over her cheekbones. "Of course, you do that. And in the meantime," she smiled softly, tucking her hair behind her ear, "try to sort it out with your brother _in _the car. At least when it's this late," she added, her eyes on my face.

"Will do," I said quietly, gazing in her eyes. We just stood there, surrounded by the sudden tension as something crackled between us.

"Um, I guess I better head back before my sister throws a fit," Tori bit her lip slightly as she let out the words, her voice dropping low and seductive without her noticing. And man, what a voice she had. It wasn't one of those annoyingly high-pitched ones, nor was it a sweet child-like tone. It was rich and a bit scratchy, dripping honey and sensuality, and I realized that if she didn't leave soon, I was going to be the one to pin her to the door and take her right there.

Tori sensed my mood through the blood bond, because her scent grew musky and heavy with her sudden arousal as her eyes widened a bit. I needed her to get out of here, fast.

"Yeah," I cleared my throat slightly, "yeah, you should go."

She blinked at me, a confused smile in her face.

"Alright, well… take care, Jade."

"Sure," I smirked at her, back to my normal self. I watched as she turned away from me, giving one last awkward waive as she went back to her house. Something seized painfully in my chest.

"Tori," I called out before I could stop myself. She turned around, hopeful, waiting for me to go on. I couldn't bring myself to say anything as I just gazed at her, having flashbacks of her bleeding out, being scared out of her mind and then being eerily calm as she stood there, compelled, not afraid of me and of my nature. Accepting. Understanding.

"Just… goodnight," I got out weakly. She nodded at that, disappointment evident in her expression. The door closed with a soft click.

God, I wished she didn't have to forget this.

But she did.

* * *

Cat placed the phone near her pillow, bouncing on her feet as she threw the door open.

"HI!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, waiving the newcomer in. "How was your day?"

"Can't complain," the girl muttered back, making her way to Cat's table and surveying different herbs scattered on it. She picked the one with little pale blue flowers, smirking when her skin sizzled at the contact.

"I made feathers fly today!" Cat stated proudly, oblivious to the girl's occupation with the flower. "It was so beautiful, like one time my brother and I went to the park in the morning and there was light everywhere." Cat frowned slightly. "But then my brother pinched a girl, and people blamed me."

"Of course they did, sweetheart," the girl placed the herb in the bowl of water, grinding it to pieces before pouring it into the glass. "You're the only one who can see him."

"I know," Cat said sadly, playing with her giraffe absentmindedly. "After he crashed our parents' car, he decided to become invisible to everyone. And he doesn't let me tell people about the stuff we do together anymore. But he still spends time with me, so it's okay!" She exclaimed lightly, smiling. "But I don't think he likes you much," she added as the girl turned around, her blonde hair whipping. "He screamed at me for spending time with you, so I hid under my bed and he left. He was being rude, and I don't want to see him!" The red-headed girl cried, upset.

"Oh Cat," the blonde girl purred, sipping at her self-made drink. "Clueless as always."

"Whatie?" Cat asked innocently, battling her eyelashes confusedly.

"Nothing, dear," the girl placed the glass on the table, coming up to the red-haired girl. "Do you want to study or not?"

"Yay! Of course I want to!" Cat giggled. "Last time we brought Jade here, and I think Tori really likes her. Tori's been so sad lately," she added. "I want her to be happy."

"They will be, darling," the girl chuckles darkly, staring off into space. "But I need your help with that."

"Oh, we'll play matchmaker! Awesome," she clapped her hand together, excited. "You come up with very fun stuff, Alyssa."

Alyssa Vaughn smirked wickedly, watching the short redhead run around in the tiny room, searching for different ingredients.

"The real fun is about to begin, dear," she replied quietly, her smile widening.

In the corner of the room, Cat's brother shouted for her, invisible to the world of living, banging his hands against the barrier his sister put up, his face twisted in panic.

* * *

_...And the plot thickens._

_Alyssa is turning out to be quite a problem, huh?_

_In the upcoming episode "Shame On Me", Jade turns to a powerful frenemy for help. The Salvatore brothers' bond is tested as they are visited by a face from their past. Bonnie struggles with her abilities as they get out of control, ultimately resulting in a stunning revelation for her. The Salvatore siblings are confronted by a newcomer who appears to be problematic to deal with. Tori and her friends are busy planning the big concert for the Night Of The Comet, and things take a horrifying turn as they are locked inside Hollywood Arts._


	8. Shame On Me

_Hey guys!_

_Just a teaser to keep you at least somehow updated :) I wanted to carry out my promise and update weekly, but I kinda had a birthday on 16th of November, sooooo yeah, still trying to come back to the normal non-birthday-y life :)_

_Anyway, there's more to come, so stay tuned._

_And well, since this is an embarrasingly short piece... Well, review if you have something to say about it ;)_

* * *

The only thing Tori was certain of when she woke up was that something was absolutely wrong with her.

After her strange encounter with Jade which was most probably carefully crafted by black-haired beauty, all she could think about was her.

She woke up. She thought if Jade had woken up yet. She went to shower. She thought what Jade was doing right now. She got dressed. She though what Jade was going to wear today. She ate and thought what Jade was having for breakfast.

When she got in the car and thought about whether the youngest Salvatore was listening to the same song on the radio as them, the level of ridiculousness of the situation got too much even for her.

"You okay?"

Tori glanced up from her thoughts in the rearview mirror, catching Caroline's curious eyes. The blonde volunteered to take Gilberts to school since according to Mr. Gilbert Elena was in no condition to drive, and now, despite latter's protests, they were in Forbes' sky blue Lexus.

If Tori's mind was about to make another parallel with anything colored blue and Jade's eyes, she just might have to kill herself.

"I'm... fine, Care," she smiled reassuringly, if a bit fake. Caroline shrugged, getting back to the Comet Concert discussion and her performance for it, and Tori struggled not to roll her eyes. Typical Care.

Elena winked at her in the mirror as Caroline was gushing about the song she wrote specifically for the event, and Tori perked up a bit, grinning back. What was she even thinking? She'd pick normal control-freak obsessed-with-projects Caroline over the one she met at the hospital any time.

Now, Caroline in the hospital was a scary sight. Not scary like a vampire - Tori frowned at the sudden comparison, but shrugged it off. No, it was scary to see Caroline so upset and quiet as her and Bonnie came to check up on Elena on Saturday while she slept. The blonde cheerleader, usually so confident and bubbly, was standing still, hugging herself as she shtruggled not to let emotions consume her. Tori remembered being slightly surprised at such a strong reaction from a Prom Queen. The brunette, along with half the HA student body, always considered the blonde to be a little self-involved and just a tiny bit shallow. But seeing Caroline be so unlike herself, genuinly carng for her sister, allowed her to see Care for who she really was under all those ambitions and designer clothes - a loyal friend. And as Caroline finally noticed Tori standing at Elena's room entrance, she rushed to her, hugging her tightly and breathing out a broken 'thank God you're okay' in her hair before letting the tears fall. Tori remembered hugging Caroline back just as tightly, clinging to the familiar scent of her shampoo as she looked at her sister's weak sleeping form.

As for Bonnie, she was just as Tori had expected - quiet, strong, determined, supporting Care and being optimistic for the sake of everyone. Bonnie was the poster girl for women empowerment for as long as Tori remembered, never giving up and being the strong one, holding her friends up when they needed it.

Tori's eyes suddenly flew open in shock as she recalled a revelation she completely forgot about in all of the excitement of the past few days.

Bonnie.

She was a witch.

They thought that Jade might be one, too.

The pieces slowly fit together, and as much as the youngest Gilbert didn't want to believe the absurd thoughts, it was the only explanation for her strange behaviour.

Jade was a witch, and she cast a love spell on her.

Tori groaned quietly in the backseat as she wondered just what the hell her life had become.

* * *

"Bonnie, for the thousanth time, I can carry my books on my own!"

Tori whipped around as her sister laughingly protested against Bonnie's display of chivalry. She chuckled a bit at the dismayed look on the dark-skinned girl's face as the oldest Gilbert sibling fighted her books back, holding them to her chest.

"You have world's most stubborn sister," Bonnie announced grumpily, turning the combination on her locker which was located near Tori. The locker's door, wooden with hand-carved ornaments, popped open, revealing a picture of Bonnie, Caroline and Elena stuck to the other side with another picture of Bonnie, Andre and Tori under it.

"Oh man, you still have this photo in your locker for the whole world to see?" Elena groaned miserably, eyeing the offending piece of plastic.

"What's wrong with it?" Bonnie asked lightly, taking out the things she needed for another class.

"My hair looks _hideous! _It was summer before 8th grade, remember?" Elena turned to Tori who was silently watching the exchange between two best friends, amused.

"Oh, right! You wanted to get a haircut and Dad wouldn't let you," Tori laughed as she, too, looked at the photo. "Deciding to take matters in your own hands didn't really work out as you planned," she giggled as Elena scowled at her.

"Yeah, let's just say you should stick to writing as your career choice," Bonnie remarked teasingly, closing the locker again.

"Fine, mock me. Keep it up and I won't acknowledge any of you in my works, be it a book _or _a screenplay," Elena warned them jokingly.

"Then I won't get you free tickets to my concerts," Tori teased back, smirking.

"And, since we headed down that path, I won't let you come to my sets," the dark-skinned actress raised a finger at Elena, "_and_ I won't star in your films."

"You are the meanest people I know," Elena gasped in mock horror, walking backwards to her next class. "But I guess I'll always have Caroline," she called out, raising an eyebrow at Bonnie who narrowed her eyes at the older brunette.

After a second, the trio burst into giggles.

"Alright, manipulative friends and siblings of mine, I'm heading to the torture that is known as History," Elena gave one last wave before tearning around and leaving.

"Think I gotta move it, too," Bonnie adjusted her bag at her shoulder. "Calsulus won't solve itself, no matter how much I wish for that to happen. As she turned to leave, the youngest Gilbert grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Um, Bonnie, listen… I… I think I need your help with something," Tori bit her lip, not knowing how to word her problem.

"Sure, Tor, what's up?" Bonnie studied the brunette's face before a recognition flashed in her eyes. "Oh, is this you improv project? It's okay, you don't need to be shy about it, I know you struggle with acting sometimes, and I'm always happy to help you out," the young witch smiled kindly at the younger girl.

"It's not about school," Tori replied, and Bonnie frowned, sensing that whatever was bothering her friend must be big. Tori didn't even try to defend her acting skills.

"Look – not here," the half-Latina grabbed Bonnie's arm again, dragging her to the janitor's closet. Bonnie groaned but followed, closing the door behind her as the brunetter twisted her hands, thinking of the best way to explain her situation.

Tori didn't want to sound like a crazy person, but no matter how she composed a sentence in her head, she ended up being a complete nutcase. How exactly did you explain that you thought you were under a love spell?

"Okay," she took a calming breath, pacing. "So it goes a little like this…"

"Oh, no," Tori glanced up, confused at Bonnie's defeated tone. The witch stared back, looking sympathetic and uncomfortable at the same time.

"Tori, please don't tell me that… I mean, I'm flattered, really, and I think you're very pretty, but I'm not… I'm not into _girls." _At the alarmed look at Tori's face, Bonnie lifted her hands defensively, rushing to explain. "Not that it's wrong! Everyone has a right to like whoever they choose, but you're like a little sister to me, so… I'm sorry,"she offered, watching as Tori's eyes widened in panic.

"Wha- Bonnie, oh my God! Did you think I dragged you in here to make a move on you?!"

"Well… You were all fidgety, and you know, you always kinda… I mean… Aren't you…?" Bonnie carefully treaded the topic, as Tori's cheeks were now rapidly changing colors, finally settling on a bright red.

"I'm not – I'm not _gay!_ Why would you even assume that?!" the younger half-Latina exclaimed, mortified.

Did _everyone_ but her knew she was gay? But – no, she wasn't. It was all Jade's fault.

"I – oh God, this is awkward. I always kind of assumed… I measn, there were signs-"

"There were no signs of any variety," Tori protested furiously. "I'm not… I don't think I'm gay," she tried to explain to the teenage witch. Bonnie sensed her discomfort with the issue, which wasn't all that difficult as the youngest Gilbert almost exploded on the spot. So she tried to smooth the situation over.

"Tori, I'm so, so sorry about that. I shouldn't go around assuming stuff about people. And wow, way to be conceited, thinking you were crushing on me," she smiled encouragingly at the freaking out girl who reluctantly returned it. "I'm just really sorry. You'll figure it out all on your own, I shouldn't have pried into your private business."

The younger brunette took a deep breath, letting out a puff of air. Alright, now she really needed to Bonnie to lift the damn spell, or whatever it was that witches did in those situations. Jade was confusing her mind, and the sooner she got rid of weird sensations, the better.

"Listen, Bonnie, I don't know how to explain it all, so I'm just going to come out and say it," she tried to ignore her unfortunate choice of words concerning 'coming out'. And they were also currently in the closet… Tori shook her head free from bad puns before continuing. "I think Jade is a witch and she cast a love spell on me," she rushed out, cringing a little.

Bonnie's face remained stoic except for the slight raise of eyebrows.

"Um… A spell? Are you sure it's magic and not hormones?" At the way Tori looked about ready to punch a wall, she quickly abandoned the jokes. "Alright, calm down. What makes you think so?"

"Uh," Tori tried to get her thoughts together fbefore blurting out something embarrasing to her older sister's best friend. "When I met her for the first time, I didn't really pay much attention to her," liar, "I mean, I thought she was interesting and we could hang out. Then, on Sunday, Elena and I went to the mall and met with Salvatores, and I started feeling really attracted to her. And in the evening, she just happened to pass by my house, and I went out to talk to her. Ever since that, I can't get her out of my head. It's like – bam, and she's all I think about."

Bonnie secretly thought that the youngest Gilbert was too far in the closet and denial to acknowledge the truth about herself, but now, after hearing her out, she had to admit something was off. It usually took more than two days to become obsessed with someone, especially since Tori wasn't the obsessive type at all.

"Okay, that _is_ weird," she said, and Tori breathed out a sigh of relief. "So, what should I do, then?"

"I don't know, you're the witch here," the younger brunette sighed in frustration. "Well, can you… Are you able to check if someone did anything of the magic sorts to me?"

Bonnie shrugged, concentrating.

"I could try, I guess," she said hesitatingly, deep in thoughts. "Okay, give me your hands," she ordered, streching out her hands with her palms up. Tori slowly laid her hands in Bonnie's warm ones, watching her carefully.

"Okay… Uh-huh…" the dark-skinned witch muttered to herself, squeezing her hands a bit. "Can you picture Jade right now in your mind?"

I can't unpicture her, Tori thought to herself gloomily, but complied nonetheless.

Jade. Icy blue eyes, a cocky smirk, plump pink lips just begging to be nibbled on, arms strong and elegant at the same time, holding her…

Tori couldn't exactly tell what the hell happened, but next thing she knew, her apparently perverted and dirty mind presented her with a clear picture of her and Jade rolling around in deep red satin sheets, her gasping out black-haired girl's name as Salvatore worked her fingers in and out of her.

"Oh God!"

The younger brunette jumped from Bonnie, yanking her hands out of her palms, scarlet with shame. But as she raised her ashamed eyes at Bonnie, the witch wasn't embarrased as she expected.

Bonnie was shaking, her eyes wide with worry and fear. The color was drained from her face, and Tori had never seen Bonnie so shook up.

"Bonnie?... Hey, what – what did you see?" She stammered, still not quite over the fact that her mind led to such sudden sexual fantasy.

"I… Tori, what happened to you last night?" Bonnie asked in a shaking voice, studying her face. Her previous paleness faded a little, but the witch still looked filled with fear.

"Nothing! Why does everyone keep asking me that?" the youngest Gilbert stated rhetorically. "I just took a little walk on the street around 8 and came back." She eyed Bonnie carefully who was trying to get a grip. "Why? What did you see?"

"I saw _blood,_" the witch said slowly, going over her vision in her head. "Lots of it. And I was _terrified, _like for real, I think I channeled your emotions or something," She raised her pale green eyes at Tori, scrutinizing her. "I felt myself dying," she whispered to the tan half-Latina, her gaze wandering around.

Tori shivered, all thoughts about the inappropriate mind picture forgotten. Was Bonnie trying to freak her out? If yes, it was working perfectly fine. Bonnie's fear crawled inside brunette's head, sliding down her spine and settling in her stomach like a heavy stone.

"Bonnie…" she said carefully, reaching out to the witch and frowning as she flinched from her hand.

"Sorry, I just… Look, I better go," the dark-skinned girl promptly turned to the door, hurriedly trying to open it. The door, old and squicky, refused to comply. Tori saw Bonnie's back tense up, and a second later, the door flew off its handles, crashing to the floor.

"Oh God, Bonnie, are you okay?" Tori exclaimed with concern, rushing to her friend. Bonnie flinched again, looking at Tori as if not realizing she was there.

"I need to go," she rushed out. Before fleeing, she threw one last glance at the youngest Gilbert. "By the way there were no magic traces on you." With that, the green-eyed actress practically ran somewhere, and Tori lost the sight of her as she turned in Hollywood Arts hallways.

Tori shifted her eyes to the door on the floor, astonished.

What the hell was going on?


End file.
